Catedral de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios o San Cristóbal de la Laguna
You can understand this place as a long memory anchored in one spot: the site where a succession of sacred buildings rose, changed, and—eventually—gave way so that today a memorial marks the ground where the cathedral once stood. At the center of the story is the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios o San Cristóbal de la Laguna, the Santa Iglesia Catedral de San Cristóbal de La Laguna. In Catholic terms it became the mother church of its diocese, dedicated to the Virgin of Los Remedios, patron of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna and of the island of Tenerife. And in practical terms, it was where the episcopal seat of the bishop was held, a role currently occupied by Bishop Eloy Alberto Santiago.
From conquest to pilgrimage ground
The earliest layer reaches back to 1511, when a hermitage was erected on the future site of the cathedral, on what is now the Plaza de Fray Albino. That work was carried out by order of Alonso Fernández de Lugo, the conquistador connected to the city’s founding. The valley of Aguere—within which La Laguna lay—was also described as a pilgrimage area for the island’s indigenous Guanche people, with a large lake nearby associated with those journeys.
