Museum of the History of Tenerife, Anthropology and history museum in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain.
The Museum of the History of Tenerife occupies Casa Lercaro, a mansion begun in the late 16th century by the Lercaro family of Genoese merchants. Its permanent exhibition traces the island's institutional, socio-economic and cultural development from the 15th to the 20th century, with sections on the conquest, evangelisation, institutions, settlement, economic bases, crafts and daily life, cartography, and the 19th and 20th centuries.
The museum holds many artifacts from the indigenous Guanche people, including tools and pottery from before Spanish colonization. These finds show how the original inhabitants lived before the island came under European rule.
The Casa Lercaro takes its name from a Genoese merchant family that settled on the island after the conquest. A legend tells that Catalina Lercaro, forced into a marriage of convenience, threw herself into the courtyard well on her wedding day; since then many claim to have seen her spectre in the corridors. The mansion is known as the most famous haunted house in the Canary Islands.
The museum is at Calle San Agustín 22, a five-minute walk from La Laguna Cathedral and the Plaza del Adelantado tourist information point. Nearby public parking is available at Plaza de la Milagrosa and Plaza del Cristo. Entry is allowed until 30 minutes before closing.
The building itself, Casa Lercaro, displays traditional Canarian architecture with features typical of regional building styles. The structure gives visitors a sense of how wealthy families historically lived on the island.
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