Lercaro Palace

This impressive building on the central street of Calle de San Agustin was commissioned to be built in 1593 by a family of Genoese merchants who settled in Tenerife after the conquest. Although it was extended in later centuries, the original structure of the house and the inside are still beautifully preserved. Its profusely decorated central patio is one of its key features, together with the main staircase that was built using the same stone as the pillars and veranda around the patio. Nowadays, Palacio de Lercaro houses the Tenerife History and Anthropology Museum, which endeavours to preserve, retrieve and research the Island's heritage, bibliography and documents from the 15th to the 20th century. It is also one of the most famous haunted houses in the Canary Islands with a popular legend claiming that it is inhabited by the ghost of Catalina Lercaro, who chose to take her life instead of going along with an arranged marriage.