|  Quito's
Old Town is a wonder, blocks and blocks of colonial architecture,
some of it dating to the mid 1500s when the Spanish founded the
city. Vintage facades line the streets and large open plazas are
surrounded by cathedrals and stately public buildings. It has
been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. Quito is said
to have at least 86 magnificent churches, occupying up to one
quarter of the city's area. Most are accompanied by convents or
monasteries. Large, blank exterior walls symbolize the division
between the outer and inner world, where nuns from wealthy and
poor backgrounds worship side by side. Time away from prayer was
often used to decorate walls and ceilings with elaborate paintings
Students, servants, and other secular residents still help tend
indoor gardens and attend to daily tasks such as sewing, cooking,
and cleaning.
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that additional info (prices, activities, etc) are found to the
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Many churches closed for repairs
after the earthquake of 1987 and some are still undergoing restoration.
Flash pictures are prohibited in most churches and historical
museums to protect the fragile pigments of religious paintings
and statues.
There are excellent maps and
guides put together by the Municipality of Quito describing the
historic walks and significance of the monuments in old town.
These guides are available throughout the city.
 Plaza
de La Independencia, at the heart of colonial
Quito features a winged statue to independence atop a high pillar.
The city's cathedral houses the tomb of Quito's liberator, Field
Marshal Antonio Jose de Sucre. The exceptional sculpting abilities
of Manuel Chili Caspicara can be appreciated in the 18th-century
tableau The Holy Shroud, which hangs behind the choir, and in
the intricate designs of the rococo Chapel of St. Ann in the right
aisle.
Catedral
Metropolitana is actually the third to stand on this site.
Jose Antonio Sucre, the number-two man in South America's independence
battles, is buried here. Behind the main altar is the smaller
altar of Nuestra Senora de Los Dolores, president Gabriel Garcia
Moreno drew his last breath after being shot outside the presidential
palace. At the entrance to the main courtyard off the walkway
stand two long-suffering guards in full uniform who must be the
most-photographed people in the country.
The former Palacio
Arzobispal (Archbishop's Palace) on the northeast side
now houses a series of small shops and boutiques. Cobbled courtyards,
thick-whitewashed walls, and wood- en balconies make it worth
a peek. The plaza's colonial spell is broken only by the stark
City Hall to the southeast, whose
simple glass lines still manage to echo those of the Palacio de
Go- bierno opposite.
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