Although they arrived in Quito in 1541, in 1580 the Dominicans started to build their temple, using the plans and direction of Francisco Becerra. The work was completed in the first half of the 17th century. Inside the church are valuable structures, such as the neo-Gothic main altar. This was placed in the late 19th century by Italian Dominicans. The roof of the Mudéjar style church features paintings of martyrs of the Order of Saint Dominic. The roof of the nave is composed of a pair and knuckle frame, coated inside by pieces of tracery. In the museum on the north side of the lower cloister are wonderful pieces of great Quito sculptors such as the Saint Dominic de Guzmán by Father Carlos, the Saint John of God by Caspicara, and the Saint Thomas Aquinas by Legarda. Another Baroque piece that stands is the Chapel of Nuestra Señora del Rosario, which is a recognizable feature of the architecture of Quito. This chapel was built beside the church, in the gospel side. In this was founded the largest fraternity in the city of Quito.
El Panecillo is a hill in the middle west of the city at an altitude of about 3,016 metres (9,895 ft) above sea level. A monument to the Virgin Mary is on top of El Panecillo and is visible from most of the city of Quito. In 1976, the Spanish artist Agustín de la Herrán Matorras was commissioned by the religious order of the Oblates to build a 41 metres (135 ft)–tall aluminum monument of a madonna, which was assembled on a high pedestal on the top of Panecillo.
The Quito School originated in the school of Artes y Oficios, founded in 1552 by the Franciscan priest Jodoco Ricke, who together with Friar Pedro Gocial transformed the San Andrés seminary, where the first indigenous artists were trained. As a cultural expression, it is the result of a long process of acculturation between indigenous peoples and Europeans, and it is one of the richest expressions of miscegenation ("mestizaje") and of syncretism, in which the participation of the vanquished Indian is seemingly of minor importance as compared to the dominant European contribution.
The Quito School ("Escuela Quiteña") is an artistic tradition that developed in the territory of the Royal Audience of Quito, from Pasto and Popayán in the north to Piura and Cajamarca in the south, during the colonial period (1542-1824). This artistic production was one of the most important activities in the economy of the Royal Audience of Quito.
The major artists of the Quito School are the sculptors Bernardo de Legarda , Manuel Chili (Caspicara) and Miguel Angel Tejada Zambrado and the painters Fray Pedro Gosseal, Fray Pedro Bedón, Nicolás Javier Goríbar, Hernando de la Cruz, Miguel de Santiago, Manuel de Samaniego
The Basilica of the National Vow is a Roman Catholic church in the historic center of Quito, Ecuador. It is sometimes also called the Catedral Consagración de Jesús or the Basílica de San Juan. It is the largest neo-Gothic basilica in the Americas.
The basilica arose from the idea, proposed by father Julio Matovelle in 1883, of building a monument as a perpetual reminder of the consecration of Ecuador to the Sacred Heart, President Luis Cordero issued the decree on July 23, 1883, and it was carried out by president José María Plácido Caamaño on March 5, 1884. The congress, in accordance with the year's budget, designated 12,000 pesos for the construction - 1,000 pesos per month, beginning in 1884. By the decree of July 3, 1885, the fourth Quitense Provincial Council turned the construction of the basilica into a religious commitment in the name of the country. The basilica remains technically "unfinished." & local legend says that when the Basílica is completed, the end of the world will come.
Construction began in 1562, seventeen years after the diocese of Quito was created (1545) and in the heart of the historic city and its status as the main church of the city, is one of the largest religious symbols of spiritual value for the Catholic community in the city.
It is one of the seven monumental churches of the 16th and 17th centuries whose main portico was built on stone in the Spanish Baroque-architecture style.
The church includes a small atrium (decorated by a large stone cross), an inside yard with a large garden and a large session hall where the frayers held dissertations or "capitulations" of faith.
The cloister and convent have a separate entrance which leads to the garden. The bell tower reaches a high of twenty-two meters (seventy feet) and houses two bronze bells of the period.
Ecuador is a country of variety. Its climate and landscape varies from one end of the country to the other. However, it is more hot and humid along the coast and in the Amazon jungle lowlands than it is in the mountains.
Ecuador is one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world. In addition to the mainland, Ecuador owns the Galápagos Islands. This is what the country is best known for.
Ecuador has 1,600 bird species and 38 more endemic in the Galápagos. In addition to over 16,000 species of plants, the country has 106 endemic reptiles, 138 endemic amphibians, and 6,000 species of butterfly. The Galápagos Islands are famous as the place of birth of Darwin's Theory of Evolution. They are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Many different kinds of potatoes and corn are grown in Ecuador. There are also large banana farms. On the coast, many people eat seafood and fish. Cuy is a famous indigenous food that means guinea pig.
Besides gold, oil is one of Ecuador's natural resources.
Ecuador used to have its own currency called the sucre, which was in use from 1884 until 2000. Since then, the country uses the United States dollar for money, but its coins (not the banknotes) are different from those in the US.
1515
Year 1515 (MDXV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.
1495
Year 1495 (MCDXCV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the center of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County. It contains 199,336 people as of 2004. It is number six among cities in Florida by number of people. The current mayor, or leader, of Orlando is Buddy Dyer.
Orlando was created in 1836 when someone found a tree where the name "Orlando Reeves" was carved. Thinking it was a place of burial, they named the site "Orlando's grave". It was cut to Orlando later.
Before the American Civil War, Orlando was a center of trade in cattle. After the war, many people came to the town. Orlando became a city in 1875. Before 1900, Orlando was a center of orange farming. After 1900, it became a popular place for visitors.
Orlando was an important base for the military during World War II, as home of Pinecastle Army Air Field. Lockheed Martin (once Martin Marietta) opened a manufacturing site in Orlando in 1956.
In 1965, Walt Disney said that he would build a large amusement park southwest of the city. That place, Walt Disney World Resort, opened in 1971. After Walt Disney World opened, Orlando is now very popular as a tourism city, attracting millions of visitors each year from every place in the world.
Three hurricanes moved over Orlando in 2004, causing billions of U.S. dollars of damage.
Orlando has a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa" in the Koeppen climate classification). Summers are hot and wet; winters are warm with moderate rainfall.
A major road in Orlando is Interstate 4. Another major road is State Road 408. They meet downtown. Florida's Turnpike also meets Interstate 4 southwest of the city.
Orlando International Airport is one of the biggest airports in the United States.
Amtrak trains and Greyhound buses also go to Orlando.
The Orlando Magic are an NBA basketball team in Orlando. They play at TD Waterhouse Centre.
The Orlando Predators are an football team with the Arena Football League in Orlando. They play at the TD Waterhouse Centre.
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Orlando (disambiguation)