The Masonic Temple of the Añaza Lodge was built between 1899 and 1902 for the Añaza Lodge, founded in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1895, and was the first Masonic temple in the Canary Islands. Its façade draws on ancient Egypt: two columns with palm-leaf capitals, a triangular pediment and four sphinxes. Franco's regime seized the building in 1936, and it served the military until 1990. The city council bought it in 2001, and it reopened after restoration in October 2025.
Masonic Temple of the Anaza Lodge
Egyptian-inspired Masonic temple of 1902, its façade flanked by four sphinxes and palm-capital columns
- Accessibility
- The entrance is not wheelchair accessible, and there is no wheelchair-accessible parking. The tunnel beneath the building is dark and low, and is entered in a hard hat.
- Parking
- Parking El Pilar, a paid public car park about 200 m away. No wheelchair-accessible parking.
- Difficulty
- None: the temple fronts a city street, and you walk in from the pavement. Only the tunnel below means stooping in the dark.
- Transport
- Stops El Pilar (9358) and Plaza del Príncipe (9359), each about 180 m away.
- Hours
- Tuesday to Saturday 11:00–18:00; Sunday 11:00–14:00; closed on Monday.
- Address
- C. de San Lucas, 35, 38002 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
What makes it special
Four sphinxes lie on their stomachs at the feet of two plain columns, each wearing the striped nemes headdress of a pharaoh. The sculptor Guzmán Compañ Zamorano carved them, and the restoration rebuilt their noses so cleanly that the join between new and old is hard to find. Over the carved wooden door, a sun with eagle's wings, the symbol of Horus, spreads across the lintel, and the pediment carries the radiant emblem of the Great Architect of the Universe.
The front is also a piece of stagecraft by the architect Manuel de Cámara y Cruz. When it went up, Santa Cruz was a town of single-storey buildings, and a Freemason arriving by sea could pick the temple out from the port. Behind that grand front stood a single-storey lodge room. Later floors were slotted in behind it, and the third is hidden inside the line of the façade.
Inside, the rooms follow Masonic ritual across several levels: the lodge room, the chamber of reflection, the chamber of lost steps and the agape hall. After 1936 the Falange charged visitors to see the chamber of reflection.
Good to know
- The rooms are bare: the planned museum and interpretation centre for Freemasonry was still to come when the building reopened in October 2025.
- The tunnel beneath the building is entered in a hard hat. It is dark, and tall visitors will have to stoop.
- The entrance is not wheelchair accessible.
- The façade and its sphinxes face the street and can be seen at any hour, including the days the building is closed.
Getting there
The temple fronts a street in central Santa Cruz, and the last stretch is a walk along city pavements. The two nearest stops, El Pilar and Plaza del Príncipe, are both about 180 m away in a straight line. Drivers can leave the car at Parking El Pilar, a paid car park about 200 m away. Free public toilets are about 240 m from the temple, and the Centro de Visitantes is about 310 m away.
Best time to visit
Best: Tuesday to Saturday, when the doors stay open into the afternoon. Avoid: Monday, when the building is closed, and Sunday afternoon. The rooms and the tunnel can only be seen during opening hours, while the façade can be seen from the street at any time of day.
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Frequently asked questions
When was the Masonic Temple of the Añaza Lodge built?
Between 1899 and 1902, for the Añaza Lodge, founded on 8 August 1895. The architect was Manuel de Cámara y Cruz. It was the first Masonic temple in the Canary Islands.What happened to the temple under Franco?
A decree of 15 September 1936 requisitioned it and handed it to the Falange. It then became a warehouse for the Military Pharmacy, later with an army optician, and its upper floor served as a barracks until it closed in 1990. The lodge's archives went to Salamanca, to what is now the Civil War section of the National Historical Archive.Can you go inside?
Yes. The building reopened on 27 October 2025 after a restoration that began in September 2022. At the reopening its conversion into a museum and interpretation centre for Freemasonry was still to come, so the visit is to the rooms themselves.Why does a Masonic temple look Egyptian?
The building's symbolism draws mostly on the architectural tradition of ancient Egypt: sphinxes in the nemes headdress, palm-leaf capitals and the winged sun of Horus over the door. The temple also stands on the same latitude, 28° north, as Saint Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai.Is the temple wheelchair accessible?
No. The entrance is not wheelchair accessible, and there is no wheelchair-accessible parking.