Fountain of the Black Swans

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Art · Subcategory: Sculpture · Year: 1938

This fountain was conceived in 1938 as a large rectangular pond in the area of Parque García Sanabria near Numancia street. Four beautiful modernist vases marked the entrance to the place, which was one of the favourites of children who came to this kind of shallow pool to play and splash in the water.

In 1957, the municipal architect Enrique Ruméu de Armas added side walkways and a pergola at the top, with four benches from which to view the entire aquatic space from above. Later, six Carrara marble busts representing characters from classical mythology, all works by the 19th-century Italian sculptor Angelo Cherubini, were placed at the edge of the pond. These sculptures had previously adorned the façade of a beautiful building, now disappeared, located in Plaza de la Candelaria. Around the same time, several black swans were introduced to the pond, giving the place its name.

In 1972 a striking fountain was added to the ensemble, designed by the renowned Catalan engineer and lighting technician Carlos Buigas, which, through a set of geyser jets illuminated by coloured spotlights, created a water spectacle of great interest.

In the latest renovation of Parque García Sanabria, completed in 2006, this area was surrounded by a rolling garden covered with ground cover plants that define various spaces. The fountain then remained as a place for contemplation, surrounded by seating and a tiered stand that descends from the upper pergola along the natural slope of the terrain.

28.472031, -16.254786