La Laguna now has a new Historic Gardens Unit for the protection and dissemination of this heritage. This is the latest incorporation made by the International Center for Heritage Conservation Foundation (Cicop). The mayor, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, and the councilor for Historical Heritage, Elvira Jorge, held a meeting yesterday with the president of the institution, Francisco Aznar; its honorary president, Miguel Ángel Fernández Matrán, and the coordinator of the new department, Francesco Salomone, to learn more about its objectives.
Luis Yeray Gutiérrez pointed out that the start-up of this unit means continuing to advance “towards the protection and dissemination of our wealth. The municipality is known for its defense of monumental heritage, but from this moment we take a decisive step to value our natural treasures”. The historic gardens, such as the Santo Domingo dragon tree, “are a hallmark of the city.” “The design, layout and constitution of these spaces are also part of a heritage that must maintain the essence of its past. I cannot think of a better guardian for this treasure than the Foundation’s Historic Gardens Unit”, concluded the mayor.
For his part, Francisco Aznar pointed out that, with the incorporation of the department, the Cicop “completes the closing of a circle in which we have been working over the last 30 years, during which different areas of interest have begun to walk. ”. Miguel Ángel Fernández Matrán recalled that for many years the institution has been insisting on the need to include historic gardens in cultural heritage. “It was a pending issue” to which now an answer has been given.
During the meeting, the coordinator of the unit also presented the new issue of the Foundation’s informative notebooks, dedicated to the history of the public gardens of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, from the time of the conquest to the present. As an example, he highlighted the old avenues of Plaza del Adelantado and Camino de las Peras, the latter 242 years old.