Realejo de Arriba / Realejo Alto / Los Realejos

INFORMATION

Font ID: 07866REA
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Date: ca. 1610?
Font Century and Period/Style: 17th century(early), Renaissance
Church / Chapel Name: Iglesia Parroquial de Santiago / Parroquia Matriz del Apóstol Santiago
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. James the Greater [aka James the Great, James the Elder]
Church Notes: This church, dated to 1498, is the oldest in Tenerife. The island's Guanche chiefs [mencey / tegueste] surrendered to the Spanish in 1496
Church Address: Av. los Remedios, 5, 38410 Los Realejos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain -- Tel.: +34 922 34 02 61
Site Location: Canarias, Canarias, Spain, Europe
Directions to Site: Located off the TF-326, 8-9 km W of La Orotava, on the island of Tenerife
Ecclesiastic Region: Diócesis de San Cristóbal de La Laguna
Additional Comments: lost font? the original basin brought in 1496 to baptise the conquered Guanche chiefs [mencey / tegueste]
Font Notes:
Described in Hernández Pérez (2001: 2) as a baptismal font made of jasper in the Renaissance style; originally made in Lisbon, Portugal, for export to the Canary Islands; the cost of the font was 17,856 "maravedís" according to this source. This same source (ibid.: 1) informs that there was an earlier font, one of the so-called green fonts ["pilas verdes"], a green-glazed basin ["un lebrillo barnizado de verde"] brought to the island by Alonso de Millán, to baptise in it the Menceyes who had surrendered to the Spanish forces [ca. 1496] [NB: there is no record of what happened to this original basin].

COORDINATES

UTM: 28R 344671 3140416
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 28.380867, -16.585284
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 28° 22′ 51.12″ N, 16° 35′ 7.02″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, jasper

REFERENCES

  • Hernández Pérez, Melecio, "Las pilas bautismales de la Peña de Francia", 11 August 2001, El Día Digital, 2001, pp. 1-3; p. 2