More Historic Quito

The next day we grabbed a taxi and headed back to Plaza Grande again.  It was such a beautiful area and we only went to the one basilica (the more ornate one) and still had the Basilica del Voto Nacional to take a peek at.  We also wanted to visit el Panecillo.

 

We first walked the streets of downtown Quito for some nice exercise and a look around the city.

You saw some of these photos in my last blog, but since we went there two days in a row, here they are again.  It's really such a beautiful area.  The first five photos below were all taken from our restaurant window.  The restaurant, Mea Culpa, was right on the plaza on the second floor and we had a window seat.  You can see el Panecillo (the virgin statue in the middle of the photo piercing the skyline).  More on el Panecillo later in this blog. 

 

 

 

While at Plaza Grande we also took the opportunity to visit ...

 



Basilica del Voto Nacional

Located in Plaza Grande, this is a relatively new addition to the Quito skyline and now one its most striking landmarks.  Consecrated in 1988 (though still technically unfinished), the church stands on a steep hill to the northeast of the Centro Historico and can be seen from almost everywhere in the city, particularly at night when it is illuminated, beacon-like, in bright green and blue.  The highlight (which we did not take advantage of) is the climb up the tower which offers several vantage points along the way.  If you make it to the top, which I would never have been able to do with my fear of heights, you would be rewarded with excellent views that stretch for miles over both the new and old parts of the city.  It is the largest neo-Gothic basilica in the New World.

The first two photos I pulled from the Internet because there's no way I could get that kind of shot, but the first one gives you an overall view of the whole Basilica and the second shows you what it looks like lighted up at night ... and it is a spectacular sight.

 

 

 

 

 The tower clock is definitely not working!

 

 

Now for inside the Basilica.  This statue is representative of the statues that line the inside walls of the Basilica.

This is not the main altar, but one of a number of "side altars".  They may have another word for it but I'm just not sure what that would is.

 

Main sanctuary or nave of the Basilica.

 

 This is the main altar.

 Here's a close-up of the tile floor.

The nave looking towards the main altar.

 

 Here's one of the confessionals. All you "old" Catholics out there, notice that they confessional is "open" and not "closed".  Can people hear you whispering your sins to the priest?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Even the priest is visible through the confessional door!

 

 After we finished with the Plaza Grande, lunch at Mea Culpa, and the Basilica, we grabbed another taxi and headed towards ...

 

el Panecillo

The name is from the Spanish panecillo small piece of bread, diminutive of pan or bread).  It is on a 656 foot hill of volcanic origin located between southern and central Quito.  Its peak is 9,895 feet above sea level.  The original name used by the aboriginal inhabitants of Quito was Yavirac.  According to Juan de Velasco, a Jesuit historian, on top of Yavirac there was a temple which the Indians used to worship the sun.  This temple is said to have been destroyed by the Spanish conquistadores.  We walked down a ramp and are looking up at the statue.

In 1976, the Spanish artist Agustin de la Herran Matorras was commissioned by the religious order of the Oblates to build a 45-metre-tall stone monument of a Madonna which was assembled on a high pedestal on top of Panecillo.  It is made of 7,000 pieces of aluminum.  The monument was inaugurated on March 28, 1976 by the 11th archbishop of Quito, Pablo Munoz Vega.  The statue was engineered and erected by Anibal Lopez of Quito.

The virgin stands on top of a globe and stepping on a snake, which is a classic Madonna iconography.  Less traditional are the wings. Locals claim she is the only one in the world with wings like an angel.  According to a bronze placard affixed to the monument, the woman represented by the statue is the Woman of the Apocalypse as described in the Book of Revelation (12:1-18).

From el Panecillo, you have a spectacular view of Quito.

 

 

Mr. Gorilla came in very handy here.  We set him up on a pole and took our picture with the city of Quito in the background.

Not only do you get to see the virgin from up here, but you also have some tourist delights to purchase if you are so inclined by the vendors that line the street right across from the statue.

  

 

Revelation 12:1-6
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were  seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Centro Historico

Today, our guide was Gustavo and he took us to Centro Historico, the historic center of Quito.  On the way from the parking structure, we walked down some of the historic streets which are narrow cobblestoned avenues.


Here's a close-up of the ancient cobblestone street.

In the photos below you can  see some of the indigenous Ecuadoran people in their colorful ethnic clothing.

 

The photo below is a shot of a restaurant entrance located on one of the historic streets. This is very typical of a retail storefront in this area.



Centro Historico is considered the best preserved colonial region of the Americas offering stunning architecture built from the 16th century.  It has places of volcanic material, great republican buildings, monasteries, convents, churches that adorn the Baroque and Gothic aesthetics and is home to museums filled with representations of its history. The architecture embodies the history of Quito while conserving modern customs housing the daily life of its inhabitants.

Many identify the Plaza Grande as the hub of the historic center.  Home to many attractions such as the Cathedral, the Municipal Palace, and the Presidential Palace the Plaza Grande serves as a place full of history for the people of Quito and for visitors interested in seeing what surrounds the rich Quito culture.  Here are pictures of some of the building that surround the Plaza.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the entrance to a building off the Plaza.  Notice the decorative rectangular shape?

This is a close-up of the rectangle.  The rocks are outlined with bones!

 This is the building that has that beautiful rock/bone entryway.

 Inside the building is this courtyard where Gustavo took our picture.

From the Plaza you have this splendid view of all the buildings that surround the Plaza.

This is one of the sculptures at the base of the tall statue.

Quito is home to some of thee most beautiful churches decorated with stunning baroque and gothic details.  Among the most popular, church and plaza de la Merced is a perfect example of the baroque and gothic aesthetic that encompasses the city, which is decorated with masterpieces by Bernardo de Lagarda and Miguel de Santiago.

The Church of the Society of Jesus

In Spanish: La Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus, known colloquially as la Compania. This is a Jesuit church and among the best-known churches in Quito because of its large central nave, which is profusely decorated with gold leaf, gilded plaster and wood carvings.  Inspired by two Roman Jesuit churches, la Compania is one of the most significant works of Spanish Baroque architecture in South America.  it is Quito's most ornate church and (according to some obsservers) the country's most beautiful.

The carvings of the La Compania's main façade were executed entirely of Ecuadorian andesite stone. While the structure of the church reveals the Renaissance influence, that of the façade reflects the dynamism of the 18th century Baroque, instigated by Bernini's Solomonic columns of the Baldachin of the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome.  La Compania's columns, statues and larger details were executed in the quarry which the Jesuits had in the Hacienda de Yurac.  The rest of the material was brought from a quarry on the western slopes of el Panecillo, adjacent to the city.  That façade has more of the Italian Baroque than of the Spanish Plateresque and, with its high pilasters, a certain accent of the French Baroque.

 

 

 



Over the 160 years of its construction, the architects of La Compania incorporated elements of four architectural styles, although the Baroque is the most prominent.  Mudejar (Moorish) influence is seen in the geometrical figures on the pillars; the Churrigueresque characterizes much of the ornate decoration, especially in the interior walls; finally the Neoclassical style adorns the Chapel of Saint Mariana de Jesus (in early years a winery).

The floor plan of la Compania makes a Latin Cross, with central, northern and southern arms; it has the conventional nave, transept, crossing, presbytery, antechamber to the sacristy, sacristy, and chapel. The central nave is topped by an 85-foot high barrel vault constructed of pumice and brick. This vault is decorated with plaster, polychrome and Medejar figures in gold leaf. The skyline is capped by two green and gold domes. Photos were not permitted inside the church (they were holding a church service while we were there) so the pictures below I pulled off the Internet.  This truly was an amazing array of gold ... everywhere you turned, gold ... gold to the left, gold to the right, gold looking up, good looking down ... literally, you couldn't turn without seeing gold covering everything.

 

 

 

 

 

Gary took these photos of Gustavo and me as we were walking about the plaza.

The large statue below is right in the middle of the Plaza.

 

 Psalms 119:126-127
126 It is time for the LORD to act, for they have broken Your law. Therefore I love Your commandments above gold, yes, above fine gold.