Las Palmas Cathedral

The Cathedral of Santa Ana is a Roman Catholic church located in Las Palmas, Canary Islands. The cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of the Canaries. It is situated within the Vegueta neighborhood, next to the Plaza Mayor of Santa Ana. The feast of the cathedral's dedication is celebrated annually on November 26. The structure is considered the most important monument of Canarian religious architecture.HistoryThe present church was commenced in 1500, in the episcopate of Fr. Diego de Muros (d. 1524), dean of Santiago. He was third Bishop of Las Palmas. The architect was Don Diego Montaude. The design is credited to him, though he was succeeded by Juan de Palacio. The structure was finished, and the first offices celebrated, on the eve of Corpus Christi, 1570, in the time of the fourteenth Bishop, Fr. Juan de Alzolares. The eighteenth century saw the reconstruction and refurbishment of the cathedral after the Bishop, controlling a large tithe surplus, decided to commence work, overseen by Dean D. Geronimo Roos. The architect of the existing cathedral was Don Diego Nicolas Eduardo. Eduardo's plans were submitted to the St Ferdinand Academy of Madrid, who retained the original drawings, and returned copies for the commencement of the work itself.Las Palmas Cathedral was the only cathedral in the Canary Islands until 1819, when it was founded the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna based in the La Laguna Cathedral, with jurisdiction to the islands of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.