Cristóbal de Ponte

On the wall overlooking the Puerta de la Tierra in the park of the same name in Garachico, is this bust of Cristóbal de Ponte, the Jewish merchant and banker from Genoa, who founded the town in 1496. While much is written about Alonso Fernández de Lugo's military conquest of Tenerife, much less is commonly known about the part that Garachico's founder, Cristóbal de Ponte, played, both at that time and in later generations of Tenerife's development. It was Ponte who financed de Lugo's campaign and made it possible at all. Ponte received vast tracts of Daute, Garachico and Adeje, plus the hand of Ana de Vergara, sister of fellow conquistador, Pedro de Vergara, in return.

See where this picture was taken. [?]