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Quito Cathedral, El Sagrario Church and La Compania of Jesus Convent - Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Quito CathedralThis Quito Church is at the Independence Square, and is in the same place of the antique parochial house. At first time, is was a simple and primitive construction of mud wall and straw made by hand by indigenas.
Later, it was reconstruct as a Cathedral in after the order gave by the Crown in 1550, which says churches had to be built in America. Garcia Días Arias began its construction at the middle of the XVI century. It was consecrated in 1572. It was constructed with stone, sand and brick. The whole construction (including the dome, the portico and the steps) was already done in 1806. The Baron de Carondelet, president of the Audiencia de Quito, was the man who supervised this work.
We can find different architectural styles in this Quito church, for example: Renaissance, the Classic and the Roman. All of them were brought by important personalities from the Catholic Church.
The rests of many Ecuadorian important characters are in this church. Let’s mention some names: Mariscal Sucre, an important hero in Ecuador's Independence process, Juan Jose Flores the country's first president, Gabriel García Moreno, both of them ex presidents of the Ecuador Republic; but also ecclesiastic authorities. In the churche's walls there are portrait of the 204 foundators of Quito city. This church has also been scenery of unforgettable events, such as the poisoning of the archbishop of Quito , Jose Ignacio Checa y Barba. It happened during the Holly Week celebrations.
The Quito's Cathedral also count with paintings from the biggest and most important painters from the Quito Colonial age: Miguel de Santiago, Manual Chili Caspicara, Bernardo Rodríguez. The biblical images in the centre of the Quito's Cathedral, and the Asuncion de la Virgen, in the altar piece from Manual de Samaniego, and the extraordinary stall from the metropolitan town council, which was made in 1794, with cedar wood.
El Sagrario Quito's church
This church forms architect group with Quito's Cathedral. This last one had to have a chapel, which had to be designated to administrate the viaticum or Eucharistic Sacrament for people who were about t die. It is in front of the old Univerisdad Central, the nowadays Centro Cultural Metropolitano of Quito .
It was built in the XVII century (1657-1680), in an Italian Renaissance style. Its frontage was finished in 1706. The Sagrario Quito's church has three decks covered by mud dome. At the entrance of the church we can find one of the most appreciate architectonical jewellery from the baroque of Quito: its lowered door, which was finished in 1747, by Bernardo de Legarda.
La Compania oj Jesus Convent in Quito
The Jesuits were late in America. They stayed in Lima in 1567, and in Quito, in 1585. They stayed precariously in particular houses, because they were poor and nobody knew them. But, because of the quality and culture of its members, but also for their sacrificed spirit, they could have a place in that society, in order to make projects for education, and evangelization in the Amazonía.
The Jesuits brothers Francisco Ayerdi and Marcos Guerra began the construction of La Compania oj Jesus Convent in Quito in 1665. The architect Leonardo Deubler and the brother Denancio Gandolfi continued the construction in 1722. At that time, they begun making the lowered door, concluded in 1765.
Its salomonic columns and its vaulted Corinthian niches were made by Ignacio de Ayala. And Bernardo de Legarda was in charged of the the mayor altar piece.
This church is inspired in the Gesu de Roma church, and its and extraordinary example of the baroque style in Quito. Its good to mention that it was made from volcanic stone. Inside the church we can find sculptures of many saint Jesuits. Its gold breath covering is amazing. The statue of the Inmaculada Concepcion, which is at the entrance, is the most important sculpture. All of these elements make the Compania one of the lasting treasures of Quito, and one of the most beautiful churches in the world.
- Created:
- Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 3:23 PM