Constructed between 1904 and 1915 to replace an earlier building begun in 1515 and designated a cathedral in 1818,[1][2] it is dedicated to the Virgin of Los Remedios (patron of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna and the island of Tenerife).

In the cathedral lie the remains of Alonso Fernandez de Lugo, conqueror of the island and founder of the city.

[7] The cathedral is located in the historic center of the city of La Laguna, and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999 by UNESCO.

[11] The chapel was replaced in 1515 with a major construction dedicated to the Virgin of Los Remedios in the Mudéjar architectural style, to which a tower was added in 1618.

In 1752 a new transept was built, the main chapel vestries were widened and spacious dressing rooms were added for the image of the patron saint, the Virgen de los Remedios.

[13] In 1783, at the height of the Enlightenment (La Laguna was the center of this movement in the Canary Islands), a request was made for designation as a diocese to be located in the Church of Los Remedios[13] but the request was received with suspicion by members of the Cathedral Chapter and the Bishop of Gran Canaria, and the establishment of an ecclesiastical institution on this island was again rejected.

In obtaining the title of cathedral and the creation of the Diocese it had an important role priest Cristóbal Bencomo y Rodríguez, confessor of King Ferdinand VII of Spain[15] and Titular Archbishop of Heraclea.

With the restoration of the diocese in 1875, the temple regains its status as a cathedral church with all the ecclesiastical privileges it enjoyed previously.

[17] The cathedral is also a parish and a Marian shrine, as the Virgin of Los Remedios is the patron saint of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna and the island of Tenerife.

During the pre-restoration study, it had been discovered that the main dome and vaults were so damaged that the only viable solution was the demolition of these elements and their subsequent reconstruction.

Some evidence was unearthed in the rubble that suggested it belonged to the ancient Church of Los Remedios or to structures from the first European settlement in the city.

These elements give the interior of the cathedral a typical medieval European feel in contrast to the colonial style of the exterior.

The chapel also is the altarpiece of Ecce Homo (locally called Señor de la Cañita) that was installed in March 2014, shortly after the reopening of the cathedral following its recent restoration.

The sculpture Our Lady of Light (Nuestra Señora de la Luz) is in this chapel, dating from the mid-sixteenth century.

The sculpture of Christ at the column that presides over this chapel was blessed on 6 June 1756, and was created by sculptor Pietro Galleano in Genoa (Italy).

Next to Christ is the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows carved in Seville and attributed to the sculptor Gabriel Astorga y Miranda, and the other side is Saint Mary Magdalene, sculpture by Fernando Estévez.

The image of Saint Joseph of Nazareth is dressed in rich robes of cloth and dates from the late seventeenth century by Lázaro González de Ocampo.

The original sculpture of the Christ who was venerated in the city was destroyed in 1964 due to a fire in the Convent of San Agustín where his statue had been.

The highlight of the interior of the cathedral is the altarpiece of Our Lady of Remedies, patron saint of the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, of the island of Tenerife and the Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna and of the Marian devotion to which the cathedral is consecrated.

The image of the Virgin of Los Remedios is located in the central niche and is adorned in rich robes and dresses.

It is located in a spectacular canopy over a silver throne, with a sunburst of the same framing material and a golden crescent moon at her feet.

Also inside the cathedral is the image of Christ of Los Remedios, which is considered the twin of Cristo de La Laguna.

After the creation of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna and the subsequent declaration of the Parish of Our Lady of Los Remedios to the rank of cathedral, the temple becomes a major center of musical production.

[25] Miguel Jurado trained other local musicians, the most important of whom was Domingo Crisanto Delgado Gómez, one of the most famous composers from the Canaries in the nineteenth century, who in 1836 would become the first organist of the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista of Puerto Rico.

Immurement is a form of extreme ascetic devotion that proliferated during the Middle Ages, and consisted of voluntary seclusion (especially of women) inside small rooms located next to the main altar of the temples, and connected to it by a grid window to attend mass and receive communion.

[clarification needed][30] John of Jesus Hernández y Delgado was a seventeenth-century Franciscan friar who lived in the convent of San Diego del Monte, outside the city walls of La Laguna.

[31] John of Jesus said he had seen the Virgin of Los Remedios blessing the city from the top of the tower of his temple, the current Cathedral of La Laguna.

[31] In the old church of Los Remedios were baptized: José de Anchieta in 1534, saint and missionary in Brazil[32] and Amaro Pargo in 1678, corsair and merchant,[33] among other personalities.