The “Cabildo de Tenerife” started to build this church in 1584 to thank the Patron Saint for putting an end to the bubonic plague in 1582. The building included the whole site where the victims of the epidemy had been buried. For centuries, its maintenance and equipment were paid by the “Cabildo de Tenerife” with uneven quantities. In 1862, the church was provisionally transferred to the army authorities to be used as hospital. It was fully refurbished in 1955.
It consists of one single nave with a wooden ceiling and main chapel. More recently, a chapel was added on the Gospel side.
On 8 May 2000 the Church, its attached properties, and the nearby San Juan Bautista Cemetery, were designated Cultural Heritage Asset, under the Monument category.
From an architectural perspective, the most notable features of the building are to be found on the portico of the main façade which is accessed by three steps made of volcanic stone. It is a quite unusual red stone structure in a late-Renaissance style that grants nobility and antiquity to the ensemble. It has a semi-circular arch flanked by plain pilasters with Ionic scroll capitals featuring some acanthus foliage supporting an entablature crowned by the roof eaves. The bands of carved stone make both corners of the main façade stand out. It is all rounded off by a nice bell gable made of volcanic stone that rises on the angle of the right side of the façade with the wall of the Epistle. It has the shape of a small shrine featuring two semi-circular arches crowned by a simple moulding that supports an elegant ornament.
The side walls are far simpler. The Epistle façade still features some elements from the original works despite the refurbishment in 1955: a former door framed by a semi-circular arch with voussoirs and a small lintel window surrounded by a red stone moulding. In contrast, on the Gospel side on the left, the walls of a chapel stand out. The apse of the church is quadrangular and has a sacristy attached.
The church has a large interior with a structure that is completely different from those in other old churches. The chancel is barely differentiated from the rest of the nave as there is no transverse arch. As a result, the ceiling does not have the usual structural features (octagonally arranged) present in many temples. A collar beam truss runs through the coffered ceiling of the single nave with triangular wooden sections to reinforce the corners. Its pair struts supported by two pairs of corbels are beautifully carved. Over the main door there are two small tribunes for the choir that rest on wooden octagonal pillars on square reddish stone bases.
At present the temple has no altarpiece but this was not always the case: since 1609 the image of St. John the Baptist was displayed on a wooden altarpiece made by carpenter Salvador López, which for unknown reasons eventually disappeared. The two altarpieces currently in the church were made in workshops of La Orotava, in the first quarter of this century with Baroque themes.
