Hermitage of San Telmo

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Religious architecture · Year: Siglo XVI

Located in the old El Cabo neighbourhood, the hermitage of San Telmo is one of the oldest buildings in the city. Today it is one of the few surviving physical testimonies of what was the first fishermen's and seafarers' neighbourhood of Santa Cruz. It was these men, closely linked to the sea, who from a very early date dedicated this small temple to the patron saint of sailors: San Pedro González Telmo. His feast was, in past centuries, one of the main and most deeply rooted popular devotions in the entire city. 

The building, of very simple construction, features a Tuscan arch doorway, semicircular windows, a wooden roof covered with tiles and a floor of chasnera slabs. Inside it has an altarpiece from the late 17th century that has maritime-themed paintings on both sides: The Tempest on the Gospel side and Navigation on the Epistle side. 

The hermitage has undergone various modifications over time. In 1893 the old bell gable was replaced by an ambitious tower which was demolished in 1918 when it threatened to collapse. On the other hand, its front faced a large square, now disappeared, which was the nerve centre of the old neighbourhood, where fishermen shared the neighbourhood with artisans, blacksmiths, bakers and other trades established there, since some of these industries could represent a certain fire risk for the town centre, located on the other side of the Santos ravine.

Next to its door, and at times inside it, was placed what is said to have been the Foundation Cross of the city, which is now kept in the parish of La Concepción.

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