Our Lady of Peace

Marian devotion of Puerto de la Cruz (Tenerife)

Our Lady of Peace gives name to one of the oldest hermitage in the area, in what it is today Puerto de la Cruz and for centuries belonged to the jurisdiction of La Orotava (Tenerife). Según la crónica recogida por el portal patrimonial «La Orotava, corazón de Tenerife», la ermita fue fundada en el 16th century por Juan de Mesa y Lugo, captain and regator of Tenerife and neighbor of La Orotava, 1591.

Main data

Origin and history

Our Lady of Peace gives name to one of the oldest hermitage in the area, in what it is today Puerto de la Cruz and for centuries belonged to the jurisdiction of La Orotava (Tenerife). Según la crónica recogida por el portal patrimonial «La Orotava, corazón de Tenerife», la ermita fue fundada en el 16th century por Juan de Mesa y Lugo, captain and regator of Tenerife and neighbor of La Orotava, 1591.

The hermitage is dedicated to Our Lady of Peace and Saint Amaro, a combination of unusual headlines on the island. The local tradition cites it linked to the old ways of descent from La Orotava to the sea and the presence of notable characters from the Orotavense society.

The image and the sanctuary

The temple is the Hermitage of Our Lady of Peace and St. Amaro, known today especially as ermita de San Amaro. La actual zona turística de «La Paz», en Puerto de la Cruz, toma precisamente su nombre de esta advocación mariana y de su ermita, que durante siglos fue referencia espiritual de un caserío disperso y de quienes bajaban a los embarcaderos. La descripción detallada de la imagen mariana de la Paz no consta en las fuentes consultadas.

Sponsorship and coronation

There is no record of a canonical patronage or coronation of the image under this invocation in the sources consulted.

Party and devotion

No consta con claridad una fiesta específica actual de «Nuestra Señora de la Paz» como tal. La ermita celebra principalmente a San Amaro, el 15 January; a different Marian celebration under the title of Peace is not recorded in the documentation consulted. The local memory retains the value of the hermitage as one of the oldest temples in the place.

Link to the Rosary

No specific connection to confraternities or Rosary practices is found in the heritage and local sources consulted. However, under the title of Our Lady of Peace, the Church invokes Mary as Queen of Peace, and the recitation of the Rosary has always been a path to inner peace and a supplication for world peace; therefore, in the presence of this image, the Rosary is a perfectly appropriate prayer.