Military Engineers Park

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Historic sites · Year: 1879

The importance of the role of military engineers in the Canary Islands has been very significant. The need to fortify and defend the islands was their main function. They built barracks and other types of military installations (forts, batteries, powder magazines, watchtowers, hospitals), as well as numerous civil works (ports, roads, paths, bridges, housing, etc.). These technicians also mapped and described a rugged and steep territory, while participating in other social and intellectual activities in which men of the calibre of Leonardo Torriani, Próspero Casola, Tiburcio Rossel, Antonio Riviere, Manuel Hernández, Francisco de La Pierre, Andrés Amat de Tortosa or Antonio Samper stood out, to name just a few. In short, they were military men who, with the contribution of their knowledge, had much to do with improvements to the basic infrastructure of the Archipelago, particularly in the urban development of the main Canarian cities.

Despite this, military engineers did not have a specific place in Santa Cruz to settle and carry out their work until well into the 19th century. The Command of the branch was created in the Canary Islands in 1740, but it was necessary to wait more than a century until in 1843 these technicians were installed in an improvised manner in the old coastal battery of Santa Rosa, also known as del Rosario, located north of La Alameda de La Marina, slightly overlooking the beach that existed there. 

They remained in this precarious fortification until the long-awaited Engineers Park arose, whose construction was finally approved in 1875. In the same location, the old battery gave way to a single-storey building constructed in masonry. The main façade, with iron grilles on its windows, faced Calle de La Marina. As an annex, it had a small garden corresponding to the pavilion-houses of the Works Command. The colonel's pavilion was located in the south wing. The building also housed a warehouse and various offices. The entire complex was completed in 1879.

This building disappeared in the mid-20th century when it was handed over by the Army to the City Council for demolition due to the construction of Anaga Avenue.

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