page_title: Basilica of Candelaria
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Basilica of Candelaria / History
caption_attribution_description: Teneriffa, Candelaria, Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria
context_page_description: The Basilica of the Royal Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Candelaria is a Roman Catholic minor basilica, the first Marian shrine of the Canary Islands, located in the municipality and city of Candelaria on the island of Tenerife. It is located some 20 km south of the island's capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
  The basilica is dedicated to the Virgin of Candelaria. Designed by architect José Enrique Marrero Regalado, it is listed as a Site of cultural interest by the Government of the Canary Islands.
  The Virgin of Candelaria is a black Madonna.
context_section_description: In 1390, Candelaria was a solitary place frequented by guanches herders of the menceyato de Güímar (pre-Hispanic kingdom). One evening, two natives leading their cattle, saw some goats refusing to come to the mouth of the ravine; they sent forward one of them thinking that there were people who wanted to steal them and they found, on a rock, the statue of the Virgin of Candelaria (later declared principal patron of the Canary Islands).
  The statue was found in a beach near to Candelaria. It was initially taken to the cave of Chinguaro, which was the palace of the king (mencey) of Güímar. Later the Guanches moved her to the cave of Achbinico in Candelaria, and from then on it was venerated there. At first the Guanches identified it with their goddess Chaxiraxi (the mother of the gods), but later the Christian conquerors identified it as the statue of the Virgin Mary. Shortly after, a chapel was built. This cave was also used as a cemetery for Christian devotees of the Virgin. In 1596, king Philip III was declared protector of the Virgin of Candelaria. After ascending the throne, the Spanish monarch gave the title of "Royal" to the sanctuary of the Candelaria. Therefore, it is also the first sanctuary in the Canary Islands to have received that title.
  Later, the present basilica was built over an old church that was destroyed by fire in 1789. However, the actual construction of the temple was postponed several times for various reasons: the economic crisis of 1931 following the proclamation of the Second Republic and later by World War II and the Spanish Civil War. Finally, the bishop of Tenerife, Domingo Pérez Cáceres promoted the construction, commissioning the architect Jose Enrique Marrero Regalado. The new sanctuary would be a neo-Canarian eclectic mix of all styles that have occurred in the Canary Islands. Several donations came from all the islands, the basilica would take almost a decade to finish. Finally, on February 1, 1959, the basilica was consecrated in a large religious ceremony. Nowadays Candelaria is the main Catholic centre of pilgrimage in the Canary Islands and one of the main ones in Spain; the basilica receives more than 2.5 million visitors annually. The Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria can host up to 5,000 people.
  Among the most significant figures who have visited the basilica include heads of state or government, as well as the most prominent figures of the Church, military, politics, sports, art, etc. Among them are the former kings of Spain, Juan Carlos I de Borbón and Sofia of Greece, who visited while still being princes, and later as kings, in 1977.
  The church holds the title and dignity of a minor basilica, bestowed upon it by Pope Benedict XVI on 24 January 2011. That title was officially celebrated on 2 February of that year, coinciding with the feast of Candlemas.
  Currently, this Marian shrine attracts not only pilgrims and devout Catholics, but also followers of other religions. Among the latter are some people from the Hindu community in Tenerife, who donated some robes for the Virgin's statue. Every year in May is celebrated in the Plaza de la Patrona de Canarias, the Festival Intercultural India - Canarias (Intercultural Festival India - Canary Islands), which aims to present the Hindu customs through gastronomy and folklore.
caption: Interior of the basilica and altar.
exif: {"Image Make": "PENTAX Corporation", "Image Model": "PENTAX K10D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "K10D Ver 1.30", "Image DateTime": "2008:03:05 17:52:55", "Image Artist": "Berthold Werner", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "Public Domain", "Image ExifOffset": "46782", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 0, 33, 0, 1, 0, 22, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "47250", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5115", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/10", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:03:05 17:52:55", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:03:05 17:52:55", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "1", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "21", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3492", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2568", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "47220", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Bracket", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "31", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "2"}