Santa Cruz de Tenerife is home to the Parroquia Matriz de Nuestra Seora de La Concepción, a Catholic church. Many residents of Santa Cruz refer to this church as "the Cathedral of Santa Cruz" despite the fact that it is neither a cathedral nor a basilica and that the Cathedral of San Cristóbal de La Laguna is the cathedral of the Diocese of Tenerife. This is because the church is the main temple and mother church of the city.

The first chapel constructed by the Spanish conquistadors immediately after their arrival on the Aazo coast is where this church now stands.

Father Juan Guerra founded a church that was dedicated to the Holy Cross, and construction on it started in 1499. On the island of Tenerife, it was one of the first churches to be constructed. After the establishment of the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Church of the Conception of Santa Cruz was specifically constructed near to the site of the first known Christian mass to be held on the island of Tenerife.

Although the parish retained its present and original location, it altered its original name from Santa Cruz to Nuestra Seora de la Concepción about 1638. The celebrations honouring this statue didn't actually start until the middle of the 17th century, when its confraternity was also established. It was burned down in 1652 and rebuilt the following year. However, the tower was built in 1786.

It was expanded as the years went by and the 17th century was rebuilt. In the end, it had a Latin cross layout with five naves, side chapels, and a dome-topped transept. It was constructed of masonry, and dark basalt stone was used to adorn the building's corners, tower, and main façade. It honours the Holy Cross and the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception.

The church was managed by the Society of Jesus from the 1930s to 1996, when it was restored under the supervision of the architect José Miguel Márquez Zárate and reopened to the public on December 8, that same year. The Iglesia de la Concepción is currently the principal parish church of Santa Cruz de Tenerife's city and municipality.

It is an illustration of Tuscan-inspired Canarian Baroque. It stands out because it is the only church in the Canary Islands with five naves, a result of the expansion it has undergone over history. Above all, its lofty tower and the Canarian balconies on the main façade rank among its most distinctive features. The Santa Cruz Fundacional was affixed to the church by Alonso Fernández de Lugo after he landed on the earlier church's nearby ancient beach. This cross, which is framed in a glass urn with a silver cross's outline, is situated on the side of the church's main altar. The two Canarian saints Santo Hermano Pedro de San José de Betancur and San José de Anchieta are depicted on either side of the Holy Cross.

The Church of the Conception is home to numerous graves and tombstones of men who had a significant impact on this city's history. Mudejar coffered ceilings cover the internal ceiling. The chapel that houses the statue of the Immaculate Conception, the parish church's patron saint, and a candelabra created by the sculptor Fernando Estévez de Salas, sits atop the main altar, which is decorated in a Baroque-Currigueresque design.

The magnificent Bevington and Sons organ, which was purchased in 1862 and brought from London, stands out. It is a blatant example of English organ construction from the 19th century.

The revered statue of Mara Santsima de la Esperanza Macarena, who is always escorted by Nuestro Padre Jess Cautivo of the Real Cofrada de La Macarena of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, can be found in this chapel. An icon of the Virgen del Perpetuo Socorro is placed next to the altarpiece of Santiago el Mayor, the city's patron saint. The Santsimo Cristo del Buen Viaje, which derives its name from emigrants' farewell wishes for a good journey and good fortune to America, is also noteworthy.

The Carta Family Chapel, which was built in 1740, is situated in the corridor connecting the main sacristy and the head of the Epistle nave. After receiving permission from the ecclesiastical authorities in 1738, Captain Matas Rodrguez Carta authorised the construction of this chapel as a family pantheon. One of the church's greatest treasures is this chapel.

The shin of Saint Clement I of Rome, pope and martyr, which was a gift from Mr. Sidotti, Patriarch of Antioch, is a relic that can be found on the altar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It has long been one of the city's most revered artefacts. The small cross that is given to the faithful to kiss on May 3rd also contains a piece of wood from the same cross that Jesus Christ died on.

The two English flags that the citizens of Tenerife stole from Admiral Horatio Nelson's forces during the attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife on July 25, 1797, are kept in a locked cabinet in the church of Santiago el Mayor, the patron saint of the city. Santiago's sculpture was created before 1744, though the pedestal was added afterwards. It was given to the city's patron saint in 1877 as a gift to mark the first 100 years after Horatio Nelson was defeated in the 1797 attack.

A modest 15th-century Gothic statue of the Virgin of Consolation, the first patron saint of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, can be found inside the church. This statue has historical significance because Adelantado Alonso Fernández de Lugo used it to decorate the chapel with the same name. It was one of Tenerife's earliest devotions and the first Virgin to be revered in Santa Cruz.