Church of San Francisco

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Religious architecture · Year: 1709-1777

Since the foundation of the city, the Franciscans tried to establish their order in Santa Cruz, but it was not until 1677 that they succeeded. A Royal Decree authorised them to do so in the small hermitage of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, founded six years earlier by Tomás de Castro Ayala and located on a hill next to the Guaite ravine (later called the Friars' ravine and today vaulted under Ruiz de Padrón street), in a then uninhabited place. The foundation of the Franciscan religious complex contributed to the urbanisation of this part of the town towards what would later become the Toscal neighbourhood.

The building was gradually erected with great difficulty. The main chapel was not completed until 1721. The church was enlarged from one to three naves, as we see it today. In 1760 the construction of the second nave was planned, gaining ground towards the street now called Villalba Hervás, taking three years to complete. In 1776 the third nave was started, adjoining what was the convent of San Pedro Alcántara, finishing the following year. The current façade dates from the same date (1777), as the extension works were used to build it, raising the height of the main nave to give more light to the interior. Notable on this façade are the two Solomonic columns carved from a single piece of local basalt and the niche with a Marian image above which is the marble coat of arms of the Castro de Ayala family.

As for the convent, it was a fairly spacious building adjoining the church. It had an extensive façade facing San Francisco square, which remained until the early decades of the 20th century, when it was demolished to make way for the current building. Only its splendid tower was preserved, begun in 1769 and completed in 1777, regrettably losing over time the original continuous balcony that ran at the height of the bell tower.

Inside the church we find a magnificent single-tier main altarpiece, completed and gilded around 1739. Presiding over the ensemble is the image of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, a work by the sculptor from La Orotava Nicolás Perdigón Oramas. It also houses the image of Nuestro Señor de las Tribulaciones, of disputed origin (American or Andalusian) and of great devotion in Santa Cruz. Worthy of mention are the pictorial frescoes covering the entire presbytery space.

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