San Francisco Church

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From the western side of the vast cobble-stoned Plaza San Francisco, rises the monumental outline of Quito’s oldest church and monastery, San Francisco – officially the Church of Saint Paul, but commonly known as San Francisco since it belongs to the Franciscan community in Ecuador.

The church has been undergoing restoration for the last years, and, although it reopened in December 2009, work is ongoing and will take some time yet to complete.

A year after the founding of Quito in 1534, construction of this grand church began, beginning with a humble temple of wood and straw. This first chapel was completed on 25 January 1536, the day of Saint Paul’s conversion, thus its name. The church was begun soon after, and took over a century to complete.
 
The complex was founded by Franciscan missionary Joedco Ricke, commemorated by a statue at the far right of the raised terrace in front of the church. (Fray Joedco is also credited with being the first man to plant wheat in Ecuador, something all beer drinkers should thank him for…).

A truly imposing temple, its symmetrical facade fills the skyline, the white washed walls dominated by its twin bell tower and its beautifully stone-carved portal, the majestic doorway to an immense religious complex.  Hidden behind this awesome façade, a great masterpiece of baroque art lies, shadowed by the half-light of a gold-leaf coffered ceiling. The light casts cubes through the stained-glass windows, bringing forth the gold of its decoration, banishing the shadows that envelop the paintings and images of Miguel de Santiago. Over the main altar, Bernardo de Legarda’s famed wooden sculpture of the silver winged Virgin of Quito is lit up beneath a spectacular dome of baroque carving.

Excavations carried out on the site of the San Francisco during the latest excavations have unearthed various artifacts from aboriginal to colonial times. The finds included huge numbers of bones. Theories exist that the church actually lies on the site of the palace of Huayna Capac, the Inca Emperor, but the work in 2008-9 has dispelled this theory, since no Incan foundations or stonemasonry was identified.

The complex was built by Francisco Cantuña. Legend has it that he made a pact for his soul with the Devil in exchange for the completion of the Church. The Devil, eager to receive the soul of Cantuña, helped him to complete the monumental work with armies of devils. Upon the completion of the church, he demanded Cantuña hand over his soul. Cantuña insisted on first examining the devil’s work and, on inspection, discovered one stone missing, thus saving his soul, the Devil’s work incomplete.

Go here for information on the Convent Museum adjoining the church.