San Cristóbal de La Laguna

Before Spanish colonial cities rose across the Americas, their blueprint was tested on Tenerife. The Lower Town of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, planned at the turn of the 16th century as an ideal 'city-territory' on philosophical principles, paired with the older unplanned Upper Town; wide streets and open squares connect churches, convents and mansions of the 16th to 18th centuries. UNESCO recognised the town as World Heritage in 1999.