The Plaza de San Francisco (“Saint Francis Square”) is a major public square in the Historic Center of

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, upon which faces ''La Iglesia y Monasterio de San Francisco'' (the Church and Convent of St. Francis) from which it takes its name.

History

The Plaza is built upon ancient Incan ruins, including Emperor

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the In ...

’s (1497-1533) palace.

Creation

16th to 19th centuries

Modern period

Buildings

Building fronting on the Plaza de San Francisco include (in counterclockwise direction), the main façade of the Church and Convent of St. Francis, the Chapel of Villacís, the

Chapel of Cantuña A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are o ...

, and (on the corner of the square) the Palace Gangotena (Casa Gangotena).

References

{{coord, 00, 13, 14.6, S, 78, 30, 53.6, W, source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Plazas in Ecuador Parks in Quito