San Cristóbal de La Laguna

San Cristobal de La Laguna, commonly known as La Laguna, is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in Spain's Canary Islands. The former capital of the Canary Islands, it is the third most populous city of the archipelago and the second most populous on the island, and forms a single large urban center together with the neighboring city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. In 1999 the historic center of La Laguna was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the city, considered the cultural capital of the Canary Islands, holds the incorrupt body of Sor Maria de Jesus and the Christ of La Laguna; its landmark Cathedral of La Laguna serves as the Catholic cathedral of the Diocese of Tenerife. Historical figures connected to the city include the corsair Amaro Pargo and the Catholic saint and missionary Jose de Anchieta, founder of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.