The space between the Chapter Houses, Bencomo and Juan de Vera, on one side of the Cathedral and Deán Palahí and Obispo Rey Redondo on the other, constitutes the current Plaza de Los Remedios, a name that was given until 1819, called in a beginning of Santa María until 1515, when the first hermitage of Santa María de la Expectación was demolished and the parish of Los Remedios was built, the second in the city. In order to build the square, the Cabildo moved to the outskirts of the city, in what is now the San Juan neighborhood, the Corral del Consejo, since the old one was located in that place “… adjoins the houses of Francisco de Salamanca, the tailor, houses of Isabel Ortiz, a single woman, and with Calle Real” (Alonso Gutiérrez Protocols).
On one side and the other of the square, close to the current walls of the Cathedral, was the cemetery of the parish of Los Remedios until 1814.
In the reform of 1888, the square was paved with the tiles that were removed in the reform of the temple, this pavement is still preserved in part of the aforementioned space. In 1908 a duck pond was built on one of its sides, which still exists, but without the ducks. The withdrawal of these birds caused great discomfort in the lagoons, calling several demonstrations where it was requested that a centuries-old tradition that made several generations of children happy be respected.
In house number 1, on the corner of La Carrera street, the Casino was installed, where the Ramos Stores were later installed. At number 2, until almost the end of the last century, was the La Católica bookstore, owned by Don Juan Miranda, a highly regarded person and collaborator of the city’s basketball teams. In number 3, before the Ateneo was installed, the Círculo Mercantil was established on July 1, 1897, which could not be consolidated, according to Rodríguez Moure, due to the “political caciques of the municipality”.
In that same house, number 3 was born (1891-1974) and lived the journalist, director and founder of La Tarde, Mr. Víctor Zurita Soler.
The first office of the Caja General de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Santa Cruz de Tenerife opened its doors in La Laguna in house number 7 of this square, until it was moved to Obispo Rey Redondo street. In the house next door, the wake of the Bethlemite Brothers is currently installed. Previously in this building was the Carmen Osorio bazaar and shoe store (Suárez bazaar). On the corner with Juan de Vera, the Asiul (Luisa) pharmacy was installed.
Three sculptures installed in this square commemorate the illustrious people of Tenerife Domingo Pérez Cáceres, VIII Bishop of Tenerife; José Peraza de Ayala, president of the Ateneo and Official Chronicler of the city and José Hernández Amador (1878-1950), poet and first president of the Ateneo.
THE ATHENEUM
The main purpose of this cultural entity was from the beginning and thus established in its statutes, approved on December 2, 1904, to contribute by all means to the scientific and literary progress of the country. The first constitutive meeting was held in Fagundo street (Cabrera Pinto).
After the presidency of the prominent poet Hernández Amador, this position was held by writers, lawyers, historians, doctors, politicians, artists, etc. Under the presidency of Don Benito Pérez Armas, the first Floral Games took place in 1906, which rewarded poets close to the “regionalist” school, as well as the beginning of the Fiesta de los Menceyes literary evenings, starting in 1907. These acts They were held in the now-defunct Viana Theater. Other personalities from the world of history, medicine, art, etc. They directed the entity like the poet Antonio Zerolo, the painter Alfredo Torres Edward and Manuel de Ossuna. After the parenthesis of the Civil War, the Athenaeum once again stood out as a cultural entity and, especially, as an oasis of freedoms. On Friday, October 4, 2019, a fire breaks out, destroying much of this building.
CATHEDRAL
The history of the Cathedral of La Laguna is linked to the parish of Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios, which has its origin in the original hermitage of Santa María de la Expectación. This temple elevated to cathedral rank in 1819, on the occasion of the creation of the diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, became the episcopal seat. This fact was promoted by Cristóbal Bencomo, from La Laguna, confessor of King Ferdinand VII.
The temple, neo-Gothic in its main body, and neoclassical in the façade, is inspired by the Cathedral of Pamplona. Its most representative elements are the dome or dome and the two side towers. It is also characterized by being built with concrete and polypropylene fiber.
At the beginning of the 19th century, when the church tower was found in ruins, the Bencomo brothers paid for its reconstruction, works that were carried out next to the façade. In 1905 and for 11 years the works were carried out, transferring the cults to the disappeared church of San Agustín. The plans and the direction of this work were drawn up by José Rodrigo de Vallabriga, being Bishop of Tenerife Nicolás Rey Redondo and administrative director of the same Dean Luis Palahí Hidalgo de Quintana.
In the temple there are different chapels, but undoubtedly that of Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios, also the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, is the most important. On its altar there is a monumental altarpiece, recently restored, of the Virgin of Los Remedios carved in wood by the carpenter Antonio Francisco de Orta and gilded by the painter Jerónimo Príncipe Navarrete. This Baroque work has Flemish tables inserted from the year 1614. The image of the Virgin of Los Remedios, a candlestick image, its head dates from 1515 and it is patron saint of the Holy Cathedral Church and of the diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna. The pulpit of the Cathedral was made by the Italian Pasquale Bocciardo in Carrara marble, and was commissioned by the merchant Andrés José Jaime on August 26, 1763, although it did not arrive in La Laguna until 1767. It stands out for being one of the few pulpits made in marble that are preserved in the Canary Islands. It is made up of an angel mounted on a cloud that supports the pulpit tribune in which the four evangelists are represented: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, each of whom is next to their iconographic symbols: the human figure or angel, the lion, the ox and the eagle, respectively.
In 2002, when landslides occurred on its roof, this temple had to be closed to worship, and it was moved to La Concepción. Work began, carried out through an agreement between the Ministry of Culture, the Tenerife Cabildo, and the La Laguna City Council. and the Bishopric. Once completed, after 12 years, this temple reopens its doors.
