Hospital de la Santísima Trinidad

Here you are in front of the Church of San Francisco and the Hospital of the Holy Trinity. This entire complex was built on the remains of the old Convent of San Lorenzo, founded in 1519. At the time, it was run by a prominent community of Franciscan friars and played a major role not only in religion and education but also in the economic development of the area. It was such an influential place that people used to call it “the Escorial of the Canaries” — you know, El Escorial, that massive monastery-palace near Madrid that was once the residence of Spanish kings and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sadly, the original building was destroyed in a fire in 1801, but the current structure still gives you a sense of its former grandeur. Some original elements were reused in the reconstruction, such as the entrance portal, the galleries around the courtyard, and the staircase leading up to the cloister. In 1848, when the Spanish state confiscated Church property, the Hospital of the Holy Trinity was moved here. Inside the church, you can still see a few sculptures and paintings from the time it served as a hospital chapel, while the rest of the religious artwork has been distributed among other churches in town.