A team of archaeologists has located skeletal remains and remains of a Franciscan convent that was destroyed by a fire in 1801 to the south of the church of San Francisco, in the orotava.
The works, carried out by the specialized company PRORED, financed by the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and with the collaboration of the La Orotava City Council, have allowed the location of part of the soil of the old convent of San Lorenzo, baptized by José Viera y Clavijo as The Escorial of the Canary Islands.
This new intervention “is key” to determine which area of the temple has been reached, whether it is a central or lateral nave, since the presence of a chasnera slab has been evidencedin primary position, which “allows us to state that we are before the floor of the convent,” says Hacomar Ruiz, director of the campaign.
Although the construction elements, images, furniture and documents of this ecclesiastical building were consumed and deteriorated by the flames, some architectural assets have been preserved almost 300 years later, such as the stone arch or the Corinthian-style column.
The subsequent reuse of this space, which was built in 1519 at the initiative of the conquistador Bartolomé Benítez de Lugo, nephew of the Adelantado Alonso Fernández de Lugo, has led to the partial concealment of the architectural assets that resisted the fire.since they are covered by several overlays of white plastic paint among other conditions, Patrimonio details in a statement.
The general director of Cultural Heritage, María Antonia Perera, indicates that the restoration work is essential in this project because “they help to read the convent, to more or less locate how it was and understand its operation”, since they allow the consolidation of architectural elements to study them from a multidisciplinary point of view.
The constructive goods located are, among others, remains of that chasnera slab, slate, brick, fired clay slab and also pieces typical of the way of life of this time such as handmade ceramics.
Also, human bones have been discovered that “seem to show that this area was used as a cemetery”says the archaeologist.
“We have to understand that at this time, prior to the 19th century, where civil cemeteries did not exist, burials were located in churches”, but “what we still do not know is whether we are dealing with permanent burials or some kind of grave where there would be remains of different individuals,” he explains.
After these findings, the research is now focused on analyzing the bone remains to have an approximate dating of when this space was functioning as a cemetery, and also on studying the architectural assets to define the materials that were used at the beginning of the 16th century in this scope.
