Cementerio de La Orotava, La Orotava

The cemetery of the Villa de La Orotava, island of Tenerife was born as a result of the need to find space to bury the numerous deceased produced by the natural increase of the population as there was no room in the churches of the Villa. It also became a pressing need for hygienic reasons, as it became increasingly frequent to have to close the temples to undergo rigorous disinfection processes. This orotavense cemetery has the particularity of having been designed by the well-known sculptor Fernando Estévez, son of the Villa, who was also an accomplished master of artistic drawing. Estévez conceived the cemetery in the Romantic style, as a garden, very much in use at the time. It was inaugurated in July 1823.

The cemetery, which is still in use and therefore expanding with new niches, preserves the family vaults of the most notable villagers, such as the Marquis de la Quinta Roja or the Monteverde family, among others. It is worth mentioning the central chapel that preserves the door of the sanctuary of the Monasterio de las Claras de San José, which has nothing to do, as it was believed until recently, with the door of the Jesuit school. This doorway has recently suffered a fire which, although it has not destroyed it, has left traces. This central chapel was also designed by the master Estévez and is made of local stonework.