Famous Landmarks in Quito
A colonial cathedral, a neoclassical palace, and a basilica share one historic square.
Quito's landmarks sit within a few blocks of each other in the historic center, around Independence Square, rather than scattered across the metropolitan area. A Gothic-style cathedral and a neoclassical government palace face one another across the square, joined by an archbishop's residence, a municipal hall, and a hotel that complete the same colonial-era ensemble. A short walk away stands a Gothic Revival basilica, reaching roughly 83 metres, added to the core in the early twentieth century rather than the colonial period. The result is a compact, low-rise cluster of stone and masonry construction spanning the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries, set on the eastern slopes of an active volcano at high elevation.
Basilica of the National Vow
1924
A Gothic Revival profile reaching roughly 83 metres, taller than anything else in the low, colonial-era streets around it.
A Roman Catholic church built in the Gothic Revival style, completed in 1924 in the historic center. Its structure reaches up to 83 metres, among the tallest built in that part of the city. No individual designer is recorded for it in the available record, and it remains an active place of worship rather than a converted or secular building. It stands within walking distance of the city's colonial-era cathedral and government palace, adding a later, taller silhouette to an otherwise low-rise historic core.
Photo: Quito magnífico (shifted by Rabanus Flavus) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Quito Metropolitan Cathedral
1567
A Gothic-style cathedral standing on one side of a main square, facing the seat of government directly across it, with an archbishop's residence and a town hall completing the plaza on the other sides.
A Gothic-style Catholic cathedral on the southwestern side of Independence Square, its current structure dating to 1567. It and its predecessor building served as the seat of the Diocese of Quito from 1545 until 1848, when the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese. No individual architect is recorded for it. The Archbishop's Palace, the Municipal Palace, a hotel, and the government palace all face the same square, forming a single colonial-era ensemble in the historic center.
- In 1995 it was elevated again, to become the seniormost Catholic church in the country.
Photo: Ángel M. Felicísimo (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Carondelet Palace
1801
A Neoclassical palace with Spanish Colonial detailing, fronting the same main square as a Gothic-style cathedral, an archbishop's residence, a town hall, and a hotel.
The seat of government of the Republic of Ecuador, built in 1801 in a Neoclassical style with Spanish Colonial features. It faces Independence Square, alongside the Archbishop's Palace, the Municipal Palace, a hotel, and the Metropolitan Cathedral, together forming the square's colonial-era ensemble. No individual architect is recorded for the building. Access to it is through the public space of the square itself, which remains the administrative center around which the historic core is arranged.
- The square it fronts is officially named Independence Square but is commonly known instead as Plaza Grande.
Photo: Taty2007 (CC BY 3.0)
History
Sedentary populations settled the site as early as 4400 BC, long before the Inca Empire absorbed the region in the late fifteenth century. Spanish colonization followed, and a cathedral on the main square served as the seat of a Catholic diocese from 1545; the building standing today dates to 1567, and in 1995 it was raised to the seniormost Catholic church in the country. Government building continued into the early republic: the neoclassical palace on the same square was built in 1801 and still serves as the seat of national government. The historic core gained one more major structure in the twentieth century, when a Gothic Revival basilica was completed in 1924, adding a soaring, church-spire silhouette to a skyline otherwise built low and close to the ground.