In the historical centre, designated World Heritage in 1999, rises the cathedral of La Laguna. It dates back to the 16th century when Los Remedios church was built, and it was declared Cathedral in 1819. It was fully rebuilt in the early 20th century to reach its present condition.
Works in Los Remedios started in the 1520s by decision of the Adelantado and the Cabildo of the Island. The site chosen was a central location according to the urban layout of the time. Its building was eventful, marked by long construction processes and sporadic ruin.
In the early 19th century, Cristóbal Bencomo, confessor of King Fernando VII, promotes the reconstruction of a new temple. He used the plans of Pamplona Cathedral as a reference and Juan Nepomuceno Verdugo and Pedro Díaz designed a new building that started to be erected in 1813. The present façade dates from 1820. At the time, the four western islands were segregated from the Canarian Bishopric and La Laguna got a papal bull from Pius VII, to establish the Diócesis Nivariense on 1 February 1818. It was then that the parish of Los Remedios was promoted to the rank of Cathedral.
Between 1820 and 1897 the Cathedral underwent extensions and reforms until cracks on its pillars led to it being declared unsafe and was closed to the public. They chose to build a new temple with works stretching from 1904 to 1915, following the plans of engineer José Rodrigo de Vallabriga, which only kept the façade of the previous building. Worth noting are the high rib vaults and the ambulatory.
San Cristóbal de La Laguna Cathedral was designated national Historic-Artistic Monument Histórico Artístico on 5 October 1983. On 24 May 2007 the vault, dome and the top of the pillars lost their designation, which allowed the current refurbishing of the building to take place.
