Numerous have been the setbacks that the project of the house in Plaza del Adelantado 10, where the wise man from La Laguna, José de Anchieta y Clavijo, grew up, has suffered. La Laguna, then secluded and intimate with candlelight in domestic nights. The convents soon took privileged places in the burgeoning city. The Dominicans opened a grammar school in their house on the Santo Domingo hill, attended by the child from the Anchieta y Clavijo family. We can imagine that he had friends from the surroundings who shared playtime and childhood and teenage friendships, which are so important for budding personalities.
The magnificent sculpture by Bruno Giorgi donated to La Laguna in 1960 by Brazilians who wished to highlight their lasting bronze tribute to the city where the Father of Brazil opened his eyes. There is evidence of the initiatives of anchietanos from the forties and fifties of the last century. One of the prominent figures is the educator and journalist Luis Álvarez Cruz, to whom we can attribute the movement generated from the local press, in addition to meetings with the Nivariense bishopric and intellectual circles so rooted in the city in societies like the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country of Tenerife. The newspapers La Tarde and EL DÍA spread this concern, which was important in achieving the arrival of the sculpture in La Laguna.
Plaza del Adelantado opens up like a wide embrace to anyone caught off guard. It is the same but different – like all things as time passes – it is the same as the traditional elegant walk of San Miguel with tails, top hat, and the soft murmur of the silks and fine fabrics of the local nobility ladies. The current square is popular and busy at all times of the day, the square feels the city that lives and expresses itself with the movement of people going about their business or those who stay to enjoy the rest and friendship, embracing the verses of the poet Domingo J. Manrique (1863-1934): “My quiet corner, the square of my loves”. All generations, including our post-war generation, have passed through there, through the art of Arturo Maccanti, who lived so intimately in love with our streets and houses, “blending noiselessly in the noisy river of life, which prolongs the rain as it falls from the timeless dark gargoyles, and I keep passing, passing slowly”.
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This uniquely historic house in La Laguna is essential to achieve the already established purpose; moreover, the mandate of the municipal assembly confirms once again that this house should definitively be the reference centre of Anchieta. The installation of the appropriate elements must be done without delay to prevent any excuse for postponement. The voluntary collaboration of many laguneros is prepared to help with everything the City Council can do in the near future in support of the approved project. The Anchieta House is part of this valuable setting of Plaza del Adelantado and contributes an important part, which is also the human heritage represented by the saint from La Laguna.
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