Santa Cruz Tenerife, is a vibrant city located on the east coast of the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Its picturesque streets and colorful houses make it a charming place to visit. Especially in the winter when the rest of Europe is shivering. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a beautiful port situated in Tenerife, the largest of the western islands in the Canary archipelago. Around its important port are wide avenues, squares, and exotic landscaped areas, not forgetting some beautiful examples of modernist architecture.
Every year, the island capital dresses in its best to welcome the Carnival, declared to be of international tourist interest and one of the most spectacular in Spain.Its privileged setting allows you to enjoy beautiful beaches such as las Teresitas, get to know the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, declared World Heritage, or visit the Teide National Park, the symbol of the island.
The history of Santa Cruz de Tenerife stretches back just over four hundred years. In fact, despite Alonso Fernández de Lugo disembarking on this coast in 1494, the city did not begin to develop until a century later, with its port being the motor for growth which has made this city the second most populated in the Canary archipelago.
Around the port area is an urban route structured into boulevards and wide avenues marked out by a prominent legacy of modernist architecture. In the nerve center of the city, near the sea is the Plaza de España, built in the middle of the XX c. over the former site of the San Cristóbal castle ( XVI c.)Facing the square is the Tenerife Island Council building, the seat of the main Tenerife municipal corporation. The building, an example of rationalist architecture, began to be built in the Neoclassic style in the mid-1930s under the direction of the architect Marrero Regalado. Inside, its rooms stand out due to them housing a series of mural paintings by the Canary painter José Aguiar.
At this point several of the busiest streets and squares of the capital meet, such as the Plaza de la Candelaria. Located on the site of the former fortress of San Cristóbal, its center is presided over by the monument to the Triumph of Candelaria, a Neoclassic style sculpture in Carrara marble and attributed to the Italian Pasquale Bocciardo. This enclave is overlooked by the eighteenth-century façade of the La Carta palace, a splendid example of baroque with Neoclassic touches.Not far from this palace are other important examples of civil architecture. The Casino, built in the first thirty years of the XX century following the eclectic trends of the era, houses in its interior an important collection of works by Canary painters. The Guimerá Theatre has been existence for over one hundred and fifty years, after it was built on the site of the former convent of Santo Domingo. The theatre, which was started in 1849 and inaugurated in 1851, combines in its outward appearance a mixture of classicist and Romantic styles, while its interior is decorated with frescoes and gold leaf.
The oldest part of the city retains several religious monuments. The church of San Francisco, one of the most beautiful examples of Island baroque, consists of three naves and consruction began on it in the XVII c. The church of El Pilar, from the XVIII century, was built on the ruins of a former hermitage.