La Concepcion Church in Santa Cruz

In the year 1500, construction work began on the church dedicated to the Holy Cross, which was founded by father Juan Guerra. In 1638 the church was named Nuestra Señora de La Concepción and it was destroyed by a fire shortly afterwards in 1652. It was then rebuilt in 1653 and the current tower was erected in 1786. The building we see today therefore dates from the 17th and 18th century and is comprised of five naves with a Latin-style cross layout and a Tuscan architectural structure, finished with the seal of colonial Canarian aesthetics.

The church contains a wealth of artistic heritage. Its oldest elements include a Gothic figure of the Virgin de Consolación, in whose honour the conqueror Fernández de Lugo raised a chapel in 1496, and La Cruz de La Conquista (The Cross of the Conquest), which disembarked with that same military man when he docked here in 1494.
The church contains a series of marble fonts of Genoese origin.

The pulpit contains outstanding carvings by the Tenerife-born artist Rodríguez de la Oliva. The craftsmanship involved in making the silver procession platform that bears the figures representing the Holy Burial during the Easter celebrations has led it to be considered one of the finest pieces of silverware in the Canary Islands. The sacristy preserves the procession platform of the Corpus, which was made by Damián de Castro from Córdoba, who is also the author of other pieces that survive to this day.

The Logman brothers spent their priesthood in this church and bequeathed it with valuable works of art such as the beautiful monstrance that is now known as The Logman Monstrance. The church's masterpiece is considered by many to be the chapel of Los Carta, in the ante-sacristy. Its construction was commissioned by captain Matías Rodríguez Carta in the 18th century and was dedicated to San Matías.
The altarpiece is wonderfully ornate, belonging to the Baroque Churrigueresque style. Presiding over the main altar is a magnificent figure of La Inmaculada Concepción by the Orotavan artist Fernando Estévez. The altarpiece is one of the most elegant examples of the Baroque style in Tenerife. This church preserves one of the finest pieces of sacred art on the Island: El Cristo del Buen Viaje, dating from the 17th century, along with other highly valuable elements such as the work of the Canarian religious painters Miguel Arroyo, Luján Pérez, Rodríguez de la Oliva, González de Ocampo and Fernando Estévez.

In terms of paintings, the church houses two lovely canvases by Juan de Miranda, as well as other anonymous works. Moreover, the church has a considerable collection of musical pieces and an organ that was made in London in 1862.