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Castle of St John the Baptist

1641 establishments in SpainBien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Santa Cruz de TenerifeBuildings and structures in Santa Cruz de TenerifeCastles in Canary IslandsHouses completed in 1641
Castillo de San Juan Bautista
Castillo de San Juan Bautista

The Castle of St John the Baptist (Spanish: Castillo de San Juan Bautista), also called the Black Castle (Castillo Negro), is a fort on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands of Spain. It was the second-most important fort in the defence of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the island's capital.It is located in the heart of the capital near the Parque Marítimo César Manrique and behind the Auditorio de Tenerife. Its construction was started in 1641 and completed in 1644. It was later rebuilt in 1765 with the addition of a cylindrical tower facing the sea. It served as a military fort until 1924. It was converted to a military museum in 1948.In 1684, Charles II of Spain gave the power to appoint the castilian, or warden of the castle, to the Cabildo de Tenerife, the island's governing body. This appointment, along with that of the Castle of San Cristóbal, were coveted by the island's nobility as an honour, but also for two important reasons: it was the most important way to prove their noble status, with a view to entering orders, joining the military or the maestranza de caballería (noble militia), and due to the privileges attached to the position: they were in charge of everything related to health, the port police, granting permits for the entry and exit of the ships, they charged the right to fish, they mediated between the conflicts between fishermen and townsfolk, besides taking care of correspondence and collecting tariffs on salt and flour. A re-enactment of the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife takes place annually at the fort, in commemoration of the unsuccessful attempt by the British admiral Horatio Nelson to invade the city and the archipelago on 25 July 1797.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Castle of St John the Baptist (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Castle of St John the Baptist
Avenida de la Constitución, Santa Cruz de Tenerife Los Llanos (Salud-La Salle)

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N 28.4554 ° E -16.2524 °
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Castillo de San Juan Bautista (Castillo Negro)

Avenida de la Constitución
38005 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Los Llanos (Salud-La Salle)
Spain
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Castillo de San Juan Bautista
Castillo de San Juan Bautista
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Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

The Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spanish: 'Puerto de Santa Cruz de Tenerife') in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is used by fishing boats, commercial and passenger ships, and sports. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, it is managed by the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, who also manage all commercial and leisure ports of the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (El Hierro, La Gomera, La Palma and Tenerife islands). Next to this port is the famous building of the Auditorio de Tenerife. The Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the most important of the Canary Islands ports in terms of passengers, as 23% of passenger transport by sea of the islands is through this port. Apart from hosting interisland ferry connections, the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a staging post of numerous shipping lines, linking it with the main ports in Europe, Africa and America. The Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife stretches from the fishing dock of San Andrés until muelle de Hondura, with an area of about twelve kilometers, this makes the port more extension of the Canary Islands. In 2016, the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was included among the three major ports in the world for cruise traffic by Seatrade Cruise Med. It shares this consideration with the Port of Southampton (UK) and the cruise terminal Kai Tak, the Port of Hong Kong (China). For its part, in 2023 a report prepared by the World Bank and S&P Global ranked the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife as the third most efficient in Spain (after Algeciras and Barcelona) and ninth in Europe.