An inquisitive traveller will very quickly understand that the neighbourhood of San Francisco is much more than a small cluster of alleys in the town of Telde. San Francisco drops tokens of its history at the feet of wayfarers. Tokens that come forth to meet them and speak of times past. A veritable legacy nurtured by the chroniclers and dwellers of this place and preserved until the present day.

There is a reason for the crosses positioned along a circular route. The mounting steps, the names of the streets, are symbols for rebuilding the roots of San Francisco. The artisans’ district, the old Jewish quarter inhabited by those who worked for the bourgeoisie of nearby San Juan, where the Christians had settled.

The only gateway originally leading into San Francisco is located on calle Carlos E. Navarro. Thereafter the route appears to enter into a brief timeless journey. It leads you along the alleyways mentioned by the poet Julián Torón. Current notes and other ancient ones lead the questing traveller to meeting points where past and present come together.

You will encounter the Crosses of the Stations of the Cross, in honour of the Franciscans who settled here in 1610, positioned in their original spot, following each particular station. And in this mixture of respecting and contributing, restoring and integrating, today a new symbol has been added to the crosses. Each one of them is different, you will not find two equal ones; “Each one carries his own cross… a unique one… do not ask for someone else’s, because it might be worse”.

A little further ahead, on this circular route, we encounter the house of Julián Torón, a prominent figure in the city, a member of the Telde School of Lyric Art, who contributed to and dynamised the culture of the time. We will also see a giant Indian Laurel more than 70 years old, right at the crossroads of the 5 main streets in which to easily lose and find yourself again.

Along the way you will surely bump into the five mounting steps, all in their original position.

Three steps that today seem to have no reason for being but certainly did so in the past. They saved the ladies from coming into contact with the servants when mounting a horse.

On Plaza de los Romeros the prospect opens up. We cross the threshold from times past to enter back into reality, into an open space that affords us a broader outlook in which to see and also be seen. Because if we lean out over the San Francisco vantage point, as well as the sites of Tara and Cendro to the left, you will come up against the Puente de los Siete Ojos to your right, the Bridge of the Seven Arches built in 1868 by Juan de León y Castillo.

Places of interest:

Sall House (future Culture and Tourist Centre)

Juan Antonio Sall was the first in the saga of Irish origin to settle in this home in San Francisco. Other members are the sought-after artist Manolo Millares, whose burlap sacks hang in some of the world’s most prestigious art museums, the poets Agustín and José María Millares, or the renowned timple player Totoyo Millares.

The Church of San Francisco

It stands on the spot once occupied by the chapel of Santa María La Antigua. With its simple floor plan, it consists of 2 naves, one of them added in the 19th century.