Virgin of Chinguaro

The guanche cave of the first cult to the Candelaria · Güímar (Tenerife)

In the cave of Chinguarro, an ancient dwelling of the Güímar guanches, tradition places the first place where the image of the Virgin of Candelaria was venerated, even before the conquest of Tenerife.

Origin and history

Chinguarro is a sanctuary and archaeological space of Güímar, made up of natural caves and a modern hermitage. The cave was traditionally identified as the cuckoo-palace of the Guanche mencees of Güímar, in particular of the Acaimo mencey. According to the first historians of the Candelarian devotion - Father Alonso de Espinosa in the XVI-XVII century - the Marian image found on Chimisay beach, before the Spanish conquest, was taken and venerated for the first time.

The tradition tells that the image, venerated by the aborigines as "Chaxiraxi," remained in Chinguardo about thirty to forty years until its transfer to the cave-shrine of Candelaria, and that it was a baptized guanche, Anton de Güímar, who recognized the Virgin Mary in it. The complex has been declared a Good of Cultural Interest as a Historic Site since 1999, for its double archaeological and religious value; the present hermitage was consecrated on 20 October 2007 by the Bishop of San Cristóbal de La Laguna.

One's own feast, patronage and canonical coronation: they do not contain (their cult is attached to that of the Virgin of Candelaria).