Monument to José de Anchieta facts for kids
The statue in 2020
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| Coordinates | Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 614: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
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| Location | San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands |
| Designer | Bruno Giorgi |
| Type | statue |
| Material | bronze |
| Opening date | 27 November 1960 |
| Dedicated to | Joseph of Anchieta |
The Monument to José de Anchieta is a large statue in La Laguna, Tenerife. It honors Joseph of Anchieta and was created by Bruno Giorgi. This important statue was first shown in 1960. It stands 5 meters (about 16 feet) tall. Since March 2022, you can find it in the gardens of La Laguna. It has been moved a few times over the years.
Contents
About the Anchieta Statue
This huge bronze statue is dedicated to Joseph of Anchieta. He was born in La Laguna in 1534. Later, in 1553, he traveled to Brazil to work as a missionary.
The statue is about 5 metres (16 ft) tall. It stands on a concrete base that is 1 metre (3.3 ft) high. The statue shows Anchieta "walking towards the sea and looking at La Laguna." It is a very important symbol of the city.
History of the Monument
The idea for this monument came from a special group. This group was part of the City Council of La Laguna. They started working on the project in the late 1950s. Celso Ferreira da Cunha helped push for the statue to be built.
The famous artist Bruno Giorgi created the monument. The country of Brazil helped pay for it. The statue was built in Brazil. Then, in 1960, it was brought to Tenerife. It traveled on a large ship called the Cabo de San Vicente.
First Location and Moves
The statue was officially revealed on November 27, 1960. Its first home was at the Brazil roundabout in La Laguna. People often called this the Padre Anchieta roundabout. It was located above the Autopista TF-5 highway. The artist chose this spot. It was a wide, grassy area back then.
About ten years later, the TF-5 highway became busier. It needed to be made wider. Because of this, the statue had to be moved to a new place.
In the 2000s, the roundabout was changed again. A tunnel was built for the TF-5 highway. A new roundabout was then built on top of this tunnel. The statue was moved temporarily to the University of La Laguna campus.
It was moved back to its original spot on July 14, 2007. This move took about 1.5 hours. In 2013, some people complained. They said plants were hiding the statue. The plants were later trimmed. People also wished it was lit up at night.
Recent Changes and Future Plans
In 2014, Tomás Oropesa Hernández worried about the statue. He thought car fumes might be damaging the bronze. As of March 2021, there were plans for the statue to move again. This was to allow more work at the roundabout. The road layout would change. A raised walkway for people would be built. The statue might move to a new square. This square would be created in the parking lot of the Faculty of Biology.
A small model of the monument was made in 2020. This model could be touched.
The statue was moved to the gardens of the University of La Laguna on March 30, 2022. This move happened because of the construction work at the TF5 roundabout.
See also
In Spanish: Monumento al Padre José de Anchieta (San Cristóbal de La Laguna) para niños
