DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE

The documentary heritage is one of the sources which allows us to approach to our past as best as possible. The most prestigious civil, military and religious institutions as well the noble families that possessed titles and large properties always took care of their own archives; as for example the different country manors guard important documentary sources whose papers depict a section of our history. A sample of it is present in the Country Estate of Los Príncipes, which has got documents from the beginnings of the XVI century till the XX century.

The historical Village of Los Realejos, maintains a remarkable documentary and bibliographic heritage. One of the oldest is in the Head Parish of St James the Apostle, left in the parish house and with pieces of information from the century of 1600 till nowadays, and outstanding out the varied collection of singings with carvings acquired after the sale of Church properties of Mendizábal in the XIX century in the missing convents of this town. In the same way, a notable collection of devotions books are guarded, some of them were properties of the illustrious priest and historian José de Viera y Clavijo, or the so-called laws of Indias, restrictions imposed by the Spanish kings after the conquest of America.

According to the religious themes it is outstanding the archive which belongs to the head parish of Our Lady of Conception, inside its parochial house, where we find remains of its wealthy historical and artistic heritage obtained from the different brotherhoods, feasts and chapels. This parish preserves as its most remarkable document the” Book of the Foundation and Origins of this parish” constituted in 1532, when it obtains the parish after the Royal Schedule of the emperor Charles the Fifth.

Respect to the civil field, the municipal archive of Los Realejos is the most outstanding documentary source. It is incomplete since there are only the documents upon the ancient town hall of Realejo Bajo in 1952. Besides other archives were lost like the one of the Music Band La Filarmónica or the very Peace Court.

After the union of the two municipal districts in 1954, all the documents which could be compiled were brought to the above-mentioned municipal archive. The best sample is present in the books of La Alhóndiga in the end of the 1600 and all the administrative documents of the municipal system since its construction in 1812.