San Francisco (Puerto de la Cruz)
The Church of San Francisco (Iglesia de San Francisco) in the center of Puerto de la Cruz on the island of Tenerife was the church of the Franciscan monastery that was dissolved in the 19th century.
history
In 1599, the merchant and tax collector Don Juan de Texera had a San Juan Bautista chapel built near the port , which he handed over to the Franciscan Order in 1609 so that they could set up a vicariate with two or three clergy for the spiritual care of 40-50 residents could. The church should be under the care of the community of La Orotava , which could not send a clergyman itself. In the course of time, today's main nave was built next to the original chapel. In 1670 the chapel de las Llagas and in the 18th century the chapel de las Ánimas were built. The monastery was closed in 1836 as part of the disamortization in Spain . The church, restored in 1830 and 1832, continued to be used for worship purposes. When the monastery building was destroyed by fire in 1967, the church suffered only minor damage. The municipality of Puerto de la Cruz placed the church under monument protection. The Conserjería de Cultura of the Government of the Canary Islands arranged for a thorough renovation. Worship services for foreign parishes are also held in the church.
The building of the church
On the north side, a tower with a triangular floor plan, the wall of which was built from stone on the facade, protrudes beyond the facade. The tower has two openings on the facade side with a semicircular end in which bells hang. While the entrance to the former Chapel of San Juan ends with a simple round arch, the entrance to the main nave is followed by an explosive gable with a cross in the middle. There is a square or a round window above the entrances. The building consists of a main nave , which merges into a chancel separated by a semicircular arch and four chapels on the south side, which are separated from the main nave by semicircular arches , in the older part by basket arches . The roof ridges of the first three chapels run across the direction of the main nave. The ridge of the fourth chapel runs parallel to the direction of the main nave. This chapel has the effect of a shortened aisle. The nave is a gable roof completed. The chapels each have a hip roof . The ceilings are clad on the inside with cassettes in the Mudejar style .
The establishment of the church
The main altar has two openings on the lower level. The middle level has three niches. In the left niche there is a figure of Juan Bautista , the patron saint of the first chapel. The colored figure is attributed to the master Andrés de Ocampo, who worked in Seville at the beginning of the 17th century . In the middle is a crucifixion group in the center of which stands the figure of Cristo del la misericordia , which was created by the La Laguna sculptor Domingo Pérez Dónis before 1645. The cross is in a niche surrounded by a dolorosa by the sculptor Francisco Liza and a San Juan Evangelista by the sculptor Mengual. In the right niche is the figure of a San Francisco . It is a work that an unknown Canarian artist created around 1700. In the upper level, at the end, there is a relief of a representation of Mary under a canopy.
At the head of the right aisle is a niche altar which is decorated with various carved and gilded plant patterns. The picture on the upper level shows the saints San Juan Bautista and San Nicolás de Bari . In the niche on the lower level there is a seated figure of Christ, Señor de la Humildad y Paciencia , created by an unknown artist before 1652. It should come from a workshop in Garachico that was active at the time.
In the Ánimas' chapel there is an altar donated by the Nieves Ravelo family. The author was an artist who succeeded Antonio Alvarez, who is known to have worked after 1669. The altar consists of two levels. There are three paintings on the upper level. In the middle Las Ánimas del Purgatorio , on the left a San Francisco de Asís and on the right a San Pedro de Alcántara , the pictures are attributed to a painter of the 17th century, Jacobo Machado Fiesco from La Laguna. On the lower level there are three figures in three niches. On the left a Santa Gema de Calgani , in the middle an Inmaculada Concepción and on the right a Santiago .
In the main nave there are three more altars on the left. The altar of Santo Domingo contains the figure of the saint in a niche and shows the image of a Marian figure in the crown. The altar of Santísimo Cristo del Huerto also has only one niche with the figure that gave the altar its name. The third altar shows a relief of an anunciación on the upper level and a figure of Corazón de María on the lower level .
literature
- Manuel Hernández González: Tenerife, Patrimonio Histórico y Cultural . Editorial Rueda, Madrid 2002, ISBN 84-7207-134-0
- Marian Montesdeoca Montes de Oca (Ed.): Sacra Memoria, Arte religioso en el Puerto de la Cruz . Excmo. Ayuntamiento del Puerto de la Cruz, Puerto de la Cruz, 2001, ISBN 84-931275-1-5
Web links
- La Iglesia de San Francisco on puertodelacruz.com (span.)
Coordinates: 28 ° 25 '0.7 " N , 16 ° 32' 59.3" W.