Parroquia de Santa Úrsula - Adeje

In the year 1497, a church dedicated to San Pedro Apóstol was built in the old Menceyato de Daute , from which an extensive parish would emerge. Its jurisdiction extended to Adeje and Abona. From this first parish other parishes were gradually founded. In 1530, the church of Adeje was elevated to a parish, but it was not until 1560 that the office of Adeje was created, entitling it to its own pastor, Reverend Duarte Fleire.

It is believed that a hermitage was built in Adeje in the early 16th century under the patronage of the British-German martyr Saint Ursula , the titular saint of the church. It was one of the first religious buildings in southern Tenerife, possibly built in the years after the conquest of the island in 1496. Being part of the Daute parish, a place of worship was needed in Adeje from 1497. But the poverty of the place and especially the fact that the owners of these lands did not live there reduced its importance.

When Pedro de Ponte came to live in Adeje in the first half of the 16th century, circumstances changed and he began the construction of the current church and the enlargement of the original chapel, making it a church with a single nave - the left - while the main nave - the right side - corresponds to a 17th century extension.

In the 17th century, perhaps due to a greater economic boom, the Church of Santa Úrsula was extended to the south with a second nave, separated from the original nave by three semicircular arches.

The Mudejar style interior ceiling and the sgraffito that adorn the upper part of some external parameters stand out, which together with the belfry, in the center of which supports a small pedestal that supports the head of an idol, a rare source of inspiration in the Canary architecture they are the most characteristic feature.

Author: Willem Vandenameele