In every county or island there is always one town that stands out above the rest.

In Tenerife that town is Candelaria directly translated as Candle Mass.

 

 

 

 

A beautiful, clean, deeply religious town hugging the coastline and steeped in history and fables. Originally called Chimisay by the Guanche natives its name was changed in 1497 because of its main claim to fame. The story of the statue of the Virgin Mary, holding a candle in one arm and the baby Jesus in the other.

Around the year 1390 two Guanche shepherds found the figure (which stands about half a metre tall) washed up on the beach.

This was 100 years before the Spanish conquest which thrust Christianity onto them, so having no idea what she was, but being very afraid of the strange looking, fully clothed woman they attempted to destroy her. As the legend goes, one Guanche picked up a rock to smash her with, but his arm locked and he could not move. The other Guanche started to saw off her fingers but the wounds appeared on his hands instead. They realised that this was something special and decided to take her to their village. On touching the statue their mobility returned and wounds were healed. They placed the statue in a cave where it was worshipped in a fashion until the Spanish Conquest.

In 1404, Diego de Herrera heard about the statue. He had conquered Lanzarote and decided that the statue needed to be worshipped by God fearing Christians, not heathens who did not even know who she was. But the Guanche did not want to give her up and De Herrera sent his son in the night to steal her and brought her back to be placed in a church in Lanzarote.

Here legend has it that the statue was found each morning facing the wall, her back to the congregation and De Herrara began to realise he may have made a mistake. Soon after, when a terrible plague hit Lanzarote killing hundreds of people, he finally conceded and sent the statue back to Tenerife. It stayed in the cave until 1826 when a terrible storm took her back into the sea from where she came.
The Spanish had taken over the island by then and were so horrified at losing her that they commissioned scupltor Fernando Estévez del Sacramento to carve another exactly the same. This statue now sits pride of place in the basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria Church in Candelaria. With special permission you can approach and touch her or leave flowers at her feet. The cave where the orginal lived for so long is still there, a building built around it for protection. Where she had stood is now a bronze effigy watched over by the figure of San Blas (the patron saint of shepherds), who is also said to be the saint you need to speak to if you have a sore throat.

Besides the main church there is a working monastry of Dominican Friars which is unfortunatly not open to the public. The plaza itself is watched over by huge bonze statues of the last nine Guanche Kings, the wild, raging sea at their backs. These are relatively new as the original stone statues were moved into the town to protect them.

Candelaria is a stunning town with many wonderful fresh fish restaurants, two small but clean, dark sand beaches, a quaint marina and some spectacular views of the mountains rearing over the roof tops. The area is recommended as a therapeutical holiday for those suffering from several health problems such as asthma or rheumatism because of the clean air and all year round good weather. Traditional country life still thrives on the slopes around Candelaria and there are some fantastic paths for mountain hiking through beautiful gorges and Canarian Pine woods.

As you arrive into the main town you come across a large parking area by the sea, next to which is a small cabin which is the tourist information office. To learn about the legends, stories and history of Candelaria I definitely recommend taking the tours they run several times a day. English is spoken so don't worry if your Spanish isnt up to scratch. The tour is about an hour long, is fun and informative and any questions you have are received and answered with enthusiasm.

If you fancy visiting Candaleria during one of the many festivals, the festival of Santa Ana is on the 25th July, also huge holy days in the area are the 2nd February and the 15th August.

 

Over to coming months, we will be building up a picture of Tenerife so why not visit other areas?
Visit:-
Villaflor
El Medano
Garachico

La Laguna
Los Cristianos

Las Teresitas