Alameda de Colón – San Francisco Church

Alameda de Colón and the Gabinete Literario are located on the site where the Convent of Santa Clara was founded in 1664 and later confiscated in 1836. This area is a powerful symbol of the modernising momentum experienced by the city in the mid-19th century.

On one side of Alameda de Colón stands the Church of San Francisco, founded in 1821 on the site previously occupied by the church of the former Convent of San Francisco. Declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1958, it is one of the city’s treasures, not only for the beauty of its architectural elements but also for its rich collection of sculptures, paintings, murals, altarpieces, gold and silver work, processional figures and sacred ornaments.

Among the most outstanding features of the church are its stone façade, the Mudejar-style coffered ceiling, and the interior decoration by the Gran Canaria artist José Arencibia Gil. The church houses several images by Luján Pérez, including El Señor en el Huerto, San Pedro and San Juan. Also by this Canarian sculptor is the neoclassical altarpiece of the Virgin of La Soledad.

Next to the church, the bell gable of the Convent of San Francisco, built in 1518 and also confiscated, has been preserved. The former convent building was later converted into military barracks, and today the site is occupied by the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Canarias.