Quito travel guide

Top 10 sights in Quito

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1. 

   1© Ángel M. Felicísimo · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Cathedral of Quito

   The cathedral of Quito, begun in 1562 on the main square, and one of the oldest in South America. The independence leader Antonio José de Sucre is buried in it, and a plaque marks where a president shot in 1877 was carried in to die.

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2. 

   2© Quito magnífico (shifted by Rabanus Flavus) · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Basilica of the National Vow

   A Catholic church in the historic centre of Quito, rising to eighty-three metres. Its gargoyles are carved as the animals of Ecuador — tortoises, iguanas, condors — instead of the usual grotesques.

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3. 

   3© Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Church of Saint Frinci

   A Catholic basilica in the middle of the historic centre of Quito, facing the square of the same name. It is the oldest and most important religious foundation in Ecuador, and the largest architectural complex in any historic centre in South America, which earned it the name of the Escorial of the New World.

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4. 

   4© Ranoutofusername · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Church of the Society of Jesus

   The Jesuit church in the old town of Quito, reckoned the high point of South American baroque. Seven tonnes of gold leaf cover its interior, which has earned it the name of the Solomon's temple of South America; it stands in the World Heritage district.

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5. 

   5© Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Plaza de la Independencia

   The main square of the old town of Quito. The presidential palace, the cathedral and the archbishop's palace ring it, and the monument at its centre commemorates the city's declaration of independence in 1809.

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6. 

   6© User: (WT-shared) Shoestring at wts wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Basilica of La Merced

   A church in Quito, built in the eighteenth century. Its bell tower is the tallest in the city and stands above the roofs of the old town.

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7. 

   7© Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0

   La Capilla del Hombre

   An art museum in Quito. The painter Oswaldo Guayasamín conceived it around the suffering of the indigenous people of the Americas, and it opened in 2002 after his death.

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8. 

   8© Quitolabicicleta · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Parque El Ejido

   A park in central Quito. It is the oldest park in the city, and at weekends open-air painters hang their work along it for sale.

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9. 

   9© el grito · CC BY 2.0

   Guápulo

   A district in the valley east of Quito. Colonial churches and narrow lanes cling to the steep slope, reached from the old town by a flight of steps.

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10. 

    10© C T Johansson · CC BY-SA 3.0

    Quito Botanical Gardens

    A botanical garden in La Carolina park in Quito. It is known for its collection of Ecuadorian orchids and holds a glasshouse reproducing the Andean cloud forest.

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1. 

   1© H3kt0r · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Parque La Carolina

   A park in the new town of Quito. It is the largest green space in the city, and at weekends its lawns fill with sport and markets.

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2. 

   2© Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Iglesia de El Sagrario

   A church beside the cathedral in Quito. It was built in the seventeenth century and keeps its Mudéjar timber ceiling and painted arches.

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3. 

   3© Tedder · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Parque Bicentenario

   A park in Quito on the site of the old Mariscal Sucre airport, converted after the airport moved in 2013. The runway is still there and is used as a promenade.

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4. 

   4© Agencia de Noticias ANDES · CC BY-SA 2.0

   Plaza de toros de Quito

   A bullring that stood in Quito. It was built in the middle of the twentieth century and, since bullfighting was banned, has been used as a performance venue.

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5. 

   5© Ymblanter · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Casa del Alabado Pre-Columbian Art Museum

   A museum of pre-Columbian art in the old town of Quito. It occupies a sixteenth-century house and arranges its objects by the Andean view of the world rather than by chronology.

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6. 

   6© David C. S. · CC BY 3.0

   Church of San Agustín

   A church and monastery in Quito. The declaration of independence was signed here in 1809, and the chapter room in which it happened survives.

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7. 

   7© H3kt0r · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Parque La Alameda

   A park in Quito. One of the oldest observatories in South America stands inside it, built in 1873.

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   Sucre House

   A house museum in Quito, the home of Antonio José de Sucre, who led the independence of South America. Its interiors are kept as they were in his day.

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9. 

   9© David Adam Kess · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Gustavo Orcés V. Natural History Museum

   A natural history museum in Quito. The National Polytechnic School of Ecuador runs it, and it holds specimens of the country's plants and animals, including those of the Galápagos.

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10. 

    10© David Adam Kess · CC BY-SA 4.0

    City Museum

    A city museum in the old town of Quito, in a hospital building of the sixteenth century. It works through the layers the city has passed through from prehistory to the present.

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