First impression on Tenerife was a bit disappointing. Rather high and rather modern buildings and even a tower reminding of Stalin’s buildings in Moscow Santa Cruz
The mystery was solved when one of the guests told us about his trip to the island’s former capital, UNESCO Heritage site – San Cristobal de La Laguna or simply La Laguna.
As the name might prompt it derives from the lake – Saint Christopher on the Lake . Nowadays the lake is long gone but the name survived.
It easy very easy to get to La Laguna: simply take a tram in the direction of Trinidad and go till the last stop. Round trip costs 2.50€, the tickets are sold right on the tram stops from a ticketing machine. Since there is no English make sure you choose ida y vuelta option for return tickets and of course validate them once on the tram.
Tenerife tram (Tranvía de Tenerife) was first opened in 1907 and was in operation until 1951, when, due to a series of problems and accidents, and increased competition with the car and bus (on Tenerife , buses are called guaguas), the service was discontinued. The tram was reopened in 2007. It is the only existing tramway or train in the Canary Islands .
The ride took us about 35 minutes. But when the mechanical female voice announced La Termina – the final station – we were in the middle of uninteresting buildings from circa 70’s. We even started thinking we had taken the wrong tram or the wrong direction. Do not get discouraged! Walk just a little bit forward and at the next crossroads the old city will start opening up in front of you.
To help you find main attractions the city has scattered boards with city plans all over the old city. All cathedrals and convents are marked on it.
Start your day with a coffee at El Jardin del Hada (Fairy’s Garden) on Calle Capitan Brotons, n2: they are open from 8am (except Sunday). They have a nice breakfast menu with crepes, fresh juices, sandwiches, salads and montaditos (another way to call tapas) for 1 euro each. But the reason we liked this place is its fairytale atmosphere with stylish wall paintings and cute little tables.
La Laguna was founded between 1496 and 1497 by Alonso Fernández de Lugo and was the capital of the island after the conclusion of the conquest of the islands. As the capital it quickly attracted attention of adventures of all sorts and became a boom town.
Despite the fact that most buildings in the old part of city date back to Renaissance period La Laguna give somehow a modern feel. This is due to the fact that unlike most ancient cities La Laguna was planed: the houses are not crammed on top of each other but are stately aligned along the wide streets.
Renaissance was the time of pursuit of perfection: ideal man, ideal city. Not only architects but also artists and philosophers were creating their own projects of ideal city: circular, octagon, star shaped... Most of these projects remained on paper but since the La Laguna was build from scratch, its founders were able to apply the progressive ideas of the time. La Laguna is the first city in the world built on geometric grid. And since it was a departure point for many expeditions to the New World now wonder colonists applied it as a model to virtually every city in South and Central America.
Some even say that not only the city plan but even the accent was brought to the new world so some mainland Spaniards (or Peninsulares - folks from peninsula) take Isleños (the islanders) for Latin Americans.
However the city population and economy declined so in the 18th century (1723 to be exact) the capital was transferred to nearby Santa Cruz where it remained ever since. Both cities have since grown so nowadays they form one municipality and one cannot tell where the Santa Cruz ends and La Laguna starts. As opposed to modern looking capital La Laguna remains cultural and education center (University of La Laguna is an education center famous all over Spain with over 30,000 students), more slow-paced with many streets closed for traffic.
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| Streets of La Laguna with Dragon Tree |
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| Dragon tree is not a tree but a relative of asparagus (belongs to family Asparagaceae) |
Paradoxically, the fact that the capital was moved to Santa Cruz helped La Laguna to retain its historical core.
Had it remained in La Laguna we could have seen more modern buildings, cars, parkings...
Luckily now one can quietly stroll on the streets enjoying traditional colonial architecture: convents...
...churches...
...stone carving...
...wooden balconies...
Some monuments were never restored (apparently it was not that important since it was no longer the capital) but even in ruins they sure have their charm:
The most important religious building of La Laguna has traditionally long name: The Cathedral of San Cristóbal de La Laguna or Catedral de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Santa Iglesia Catedral de San Cristóbal de La Laguna in Spanish).
Unfortunately at the time of our visit it was closed for restoration so we were not able to see it from the inside and on the pictures there were always cranes and scaffolding:
Apparently the restoration includes some major work done:
The cathedral was constructed from concrete, one of the first buildings inSo at the moment (and apparently for a long while) it is only possible to see the exterior.to use a material which is now used extensively in a wide range of buildings. Unfortunately, having been a pioneer in this field, the technology was not fully developed; as a result it developed numerous faults which required large amounts of repair and improvement work. ©Wikipedia Spain
A church that gives you more options is The Iglesia-Parroquia Matriz de Nuestra Señora de La Concepción (Church of the Immaculate Conception), almost a twin of the Church of the Conception of
Not only will you be able to visit its interior (for a fee) you can also climb the tower to view much of the city. The visit to the tower only costs 1€ (the ticket to the church includes the bell tower) and the view are truly incredible:
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| Convent with characteristic wooden balconies |
...or an unusual plant.
Watch street performers at work...
...or hide from heat behind the thick walls of one of the cafes
Running around the city made us hungry so we started paying attention not only at cathedrals but also at the menus of nearby restaurants. Soon we spotted an unusual menu: it was big and colorful and featured 20 different pintxos. Near each photo there was a description in Spanish - but who cares? We will be able to see the photo of what we order!
But while description of some tapas made our mouths water right away - Carpaccio de Pulpo (Octopus Carpaccio), Brocheta de Langostinos y Bacon (Brochette with shrimp and bacon) - others made us scratch our heads. How about Croqueta de Morcilla consisting of Morcilla dulce and Pistacho - morcilla for all we knew was a black pudding but can it be sweet (dulce) and accompanied by pistachios?
Some were even more mysterious as we could not decipher even one ingredient: what could be Bogavante made of Codos de Bogavante and Crema de Cava? Yet everything looked so inviting that we enthusiastically embarked on this voyage to the unknown pointing at various tapas. Luckily you don't need to settle for one favorite as each pintxo costs between 2€ and 3€ so you can easily select several, share and then... order more! Everything we ordered (and we returned to this restaurant on one of the following visits and tried more!) was an absolute delight. Each dish was presented differently: there was crepe, tartalette, brochette... Some were served on lava rock, some in a glass, some on a slice of bread, some on the stick and some - on asparagus. Various ingredients were used: there was smoked salmon, iberico ham, shrimp, octopus, black pudding, goat cheese, foie, anchovies, mushrooms - all with creative reductions and sauces.
The restaurant is called Sorgin Gorri and despite its unpretentious looks it definitely takes ancient Spanish tradition of tapas to a whole new level.
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| Sorgin Gorri interior with menus on each table |
Read about another great culinary experience in La Laguna here.
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