Paso Alto Castle: A Coastal Fortification in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Spain
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Spanish
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page9 sections
History
Paso Alto Castle is a coastal fortification in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, conceived in 1625 as part of the city’s defense. Its position lay where prevailing winds and currents forced ships close to the shore, making the site a strategically important point for coastal defense.
Foundation and Seventeenth-Century Conflicts
The fortress was planned after Commander General Francisco de Andía arrived in 1625 and was built during the following years. In 1641, it was entrenched and strengthened during the war against Portugal. The English admiral Robert Blake attacked Santa Cruz on 30 April 1657 during the Anglo-Spanish War, a conflict between England and Spain, and Paso Alto Castle suffered the heaviest damage among the city’s fortifications.
An attempt was made to demolish the castle in 1683. Captain General Félix Nieto de Silva, Count of Guaro, opposed the proposal, allowing the fortress to remain part of Santa Cruz’s defensive system.
Rebuilding and the Attack of 1797
A violent storm caused extensive damage in 1774. The castle was rebuilt in 1782, with Joaquín Ibáñez Cuevas identified as its reconstructor. Fifteen years later, the fortress was used against the attack on Santa Cruz led by the British admiral Horatio Nelson, who was known for his naval commands during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
More than 41 British cannonballs were fired at Paso Alto. One struck the chapel but did not explode. The event was regarded as a miracle and led to an annual pilgrimage to the chapel.
Prison, Later Defense, and Modern Status
Paso Alto served as a prison on numerous occasions. The Tenerife pirate known as Cabeza de Perro was held there before his execution. During the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalist side used the castle as a prison, and José Carlos Schwartz, the last Republican mayor, was imprisoned there before being executed.
In the late nineteenth century, an attached battery was built because of the possibility of an invasion by the United States. The battery was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Paso Alto Military Sports Club.
The property entered the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Property Register on 16 July 1900. On 29 September 1951, the Ministry of the Army transferred it to the Ministry of Public Works for construction of a connecting road between the North and East quays. The Ministry of Public Works transferred it to the Ministry of Finance on 14 August 1957.
The castle is state property and currently has no use. It benefits from Spain’s general legal protection for castles and was declared a Property of Cultural Interest in the category of Monument in 1993. This is a formal Spanish heritage designation for places and objects valued for their historical, artistic, architectural, or cultural importance.
The painting known as the Christ of Paso Alto reached the Museum of Military History of the Canary Islands in 1998 after being moved among several locations in Santa Cruz. An effort to revive the former pilgrimage tradition has included a September reenactment pilgrimage to the museum, where a Canarian Mass is held before the painting.
Remains
Paso Alto Castle is a semicircular defensive structure with two levels and an area of approximately 1,428 square metres. It has undergone several modifications and stands on the coast between the Paso Alto Military Sports Club and the University of La Laguna’s Higher Technical School of Nautical Engineering, Marine Machinery, and Naval Radioelectronics.
Fortress Arrangement
Rear Section
The rear part of the castle consisted of two floors. The lower level contained the chapel, troop quarters, dungeons, a storeroom, stables, and other facilities. The upper level housed the governor’s and officers’ quarters, a kitchen, a pantry, and a guardroom. The arrangement reflects the combination of defensive, residential, storage, and detention functions accommodated within the fortress.
Chapel and Religious Painting
Holy Christ of Paso Alto
The former chapel was dedicated to the Holy Christ of Paso Alto. Its associated painting shows the crucified Christ with the Virgin of Sorrows and Saint John the Evangelist. The eighteenth-century work is Baroque and is attributed to Juan de Miranda, a painter from Gran Canaria who died in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The painting is now housed in the Museum of Military History of the Canary Islands.
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