For years, villagers had tried unsuccessfully to promote the construction of a proper temple for the patron saint of sailors whose image has been kept in a warehouse, waiting to find a suitable site for the Chapel. The plot of the village consists of self-built houses on rocky promontory near the old pier, certainly a complicated site due to tight spaces, steep slopes and fragility of existing buildings
Stella Maris Chapel located among fishermen's self-built houses
A sacred space for the Virgen del Carmen, protector of sailors in the fishing village El Pris on the island of Tenerife: the Stella Maris Chapel
In this situation devoid of architectural references, where self-construction dominates, the building designed by architect Alejandro Beautell aims to complement the facade of the houses erected on the promontory. The challenge was to integrate the new volume of the Stella Maris Chapel without imposing it, so that the picturesque cluster of houses that form the background of the chapel would not lose its character
The chapel is designed as a single cylindrical volume, cut diagonally at its top. In this way, the interior space rises in height as one approaches the altar. Adjacent to the chapel is designed a small space for fishermen's prayer that resembles a cave, and a sacristy. The arrangement of volumes forms an open-air patio enclosed between buildings, protected from strong winds
Gallery
