page_title: Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco, Quito
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco, Quito / History
caption_attribution_description: Español: Iglesia de San Francisco, Quito, EcuadorEnglish: Church of San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador
context_page_description: The Church and Convent of St. Francis, commonly known as el San Francisco, is a 16th-century Roman Catholic complex in Quito, Ecuador. It fronts onto its namesake Plaza de San Francisco. The imposing structure has the distinction of being the largest architectural ensemble among the historical structures of colonial Latin America and for this reason is sometimes known as "El Escorial of the New World". The style evolved over almost 143 years of construction through earthquakes and changes in architectural styles. The Church houses the city's beloved Virgin of Quito.
context_section_description: The founder of the church was a Franciscan missionary, the Flemish Friar Joost de Rijcke (known in Spanish as "Jodoco Ricke").
  The building's construction began around 1550, sixteen years after Quito was founded by Spanish conquistadors, and was finished in approximately 1680. The building was officially inaugurated in 1605. The main cloister was added in 1605. In fact the original smaller church constructed in the sixteenth century was reoriented and dramatically expanded in the early seventeenth century, at which time the imposing facade that we see today was added.
  With the support of European Franciscans, Jodoco Ricke and Friar Pedro Gosseal – who came to the city two years after its founding – acquired land to the west side of the city's main plaza. This plot was where the palace of the Incan ruler Atahualpa (1497-1533) had once stood. In addition to being a market center for indigenous Ecuadorians, it was also the location of the military seats of the chiefs of the indigenous armies. All told, the place had enormous strategic and historical significance for the indigenous people the Franciscans wanted to evangelize.
  It is not known who designed the original plans for the complex, though the most-accepted theory is that they were sent from Spain, based on the topographical study of Ricke and Gosseal. It is also possible that architects came from Spain for the construction of the monastery, or that Ricke and Gosseal managed the entire construction.
  The Church underwent a major (US$2M) interior renovation between 2000 and 2010.
caption: Detail of wooden ceiling.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5DS R", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.0 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2015:08:08 18:12:36", "Image Artist": "Diego Delso", "Image Copyright": "CC-BY-SA 4.0", "Image ExifOffset": "258", "EXIF ExposureTime": "13/10", "EXIF FNumber": "11", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:07:22 17:12:52", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:07:22 17:12:52", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "-23657/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6918863/1000000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "16", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "05", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "05", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1200", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1200", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "028021000269", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[16, 35, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "2600003978"}