  According to popular tradition, the Canarian city of San Cristobal de La
Laguna, a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1999, emerged in the early
sixteenth century with a novel organization, in line with a new peaceful social
order inspired by the religious doctrine of the millennium and its expression
through urban design [...] In this paper we briefly discuss some details of
these ideas, which propose a planned geometric origin for the city, and the
original sources on which they are based. We then look for other indications
that in a simpler way might explain some of the notable characteristics of the
order and design of La Laguna, where over time a model of traditional Canarian
architecture was installed that, during the 17th century, was populated with
civil and religious constructions (churches, chapels and convents) with notable
creations in carpentry of Mudejar origin, for example coming from the lower
Andalusia. To conclude, we show our precise analysis of the orientation of
almost all the historical churches and chapels of the city, taken together as
an indicator of its planimetry. This study employs the usual tools of
archaeoastronomy as a complement to the historical and cultural research of
religious constructions. We will see then that a new -- and simpler --
interpretation of the spatial distribution of the city is possible.
