The exterior restoration work on the walls of the Parroquia del Apóstol Santiago, in Los Realejos, has made it possible to discover some old wall paintings on the rear façade of this temple that have been kept hidden under the successive layers applied for years. The Realejero City Council reports the recent start of the work to open tastings and consolidation of these decorative elements whose origin and dating is still unknown.
This emblematic temple was declared a National Historic Monument and an Asset of Cultural Interest, with a Monument category, in 1983. In this exterior restoration process, “new study and conservation work” will be developed. From the Royal Consistory it is recalled that these actions “began in January 2021, by the Bishopric of Tenerife, co-financed through an agreement with the City of Los Realejos, for improvements to this historic property. Works that were paralyzed when signs of remains of previous mural painting were detected.
After the analysis of the samples taken in September of this year and the subsequent definition of an intervention protocol, we now proceed to the phase of opening tastings and consolidation of the paintings, whose work will be reflected in a report that It will be sent and reviewed later by the Cabildo de Tenerife and the Bishopric of Tenerife to “determine and agree on the future intervention and finalize the exterior restoration of the temple.”
The origin of this royal church dates back to the conquest of Tenerife in 1496 by Adelantado Fernández de Lugo, who ordered the erection of “the primitive hermitage with a thatched roof and small dimensions that could have been the first temple on the island”, according to reports the Los Realejos Cultural Heritage Manager, prepared by the International Center for Heritage Conservation (Cicop). «The consolidation of the rank of parish of Santiago Apóstol took place in 1498, beginning the works of expansion and execution of the current church during the 16th century, although of these works only a few vestiges remain as part of the walls of the main altar and some elements such as the cover carved in stone and of the Renaissance type, executed in 1570 ”, details this source.
