Churches

Today I visited the heritage churches that Quito is renouned for (I'll include the ones I have already seen for completeness). Unless otherwise stated these are baroque, have quantities of gold leaf and are very ornate.

La Basilica - this is a standard English Gothic church in that it has buttresses, stained glass windows and is relatively free of gold ornamentation. It is huge, and as it is on top of a hill, it is a long climb - particularly if you go up Gracia Moreno rather than Venszuela, as you end up four stories higher, looking down to the church plaza, but not on the church itself.

Inglesia Santa Barbara - no photos were allowed inside, so I only have the outside.

Inglesia de La Concepcion - has its entry on the corner, which is the only part of it you can see from Independence Square. Might as well be in Independence Square. No photos inside. Ornate.

La Cathedral - in Independence Square, already seen, big. Takes up one whole side of Independence Square. There is a photo of the outside here. Might as well note that this square has the cathedral taking up one side, the Presidential palace the next. The third side is the Archbishops palace, and the fourth side includes the Municipal offices.

Inglesia de El Segrario - You enter it from the side. It hasn't got as much decoration as most, but you can see, that there is gold leaf.

Inglesia de La Compania de Jesus - the church that drips with gold - I managed to take a photo of a little of the inside (one of the side chapels) from the street. There is also a photo of it from San Francisco, showing the domes at the back.

Inglesia La Merced - covered in apricot and white designs, and like most of the churches has an arched ceiling and several domes. Like the Basilica it had notices that the pope had recently visited.

San Francisco - again, no photography inside, and I only took a photo of the door, but it has a lot of gold everywhere (including the ceiling which is flat rather than arched), but has other colours in places. Probably the second most decorated. If La Compania didn't exist it would definitely be thought of as dripping in gold. Everywhere including the ceiling is covered with baroque decorations.

Inglesia San Agustin - unfortunately this was closed and I didn't photograph the outside. It includes a convent (well most do) so it might only be open during the week.