Maestranza de Artillería

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Military architecture · Year: 1859 · Authors: Manuel de Oraá

This building was constructed in 1859 as a house-inn by the architect Manuel de Oraá, taking advantage of its strategic location on what was then the road to La Laguna. In 1862 it was acquired by the State, first becoming a Maestranza and, years later, in 1867, an Artillery Park.

Its exterior features a austere single-storey façade topped by a pediment on whose tympanum the year of completion of the work is recorded. The carved wooden main door stands out.

The interior of the building is configured with elements typical of Canarian domestic architecture: a cloistered courtyard with rooms around it, showcasing the purest island tradition in the use of carpentry, whose woods came from the demolition of huge cellars located in the Port of La Cruz, owned by Cándida Cólogan, wife of the architect Oraá.

At the time, this building gave its name to the current Galcerán street, initially known as Maestranza street, when the bridge over the Santos ravine did not yet exist.

Today the building houses the headquarters of the General Command of the Canary Islands.

28.467283, -16.256417