Plaza de San Francisco

This great cobbled expanse is one of Quito’s greatest squares. It is hemmed on three sides by two-story colonial and independence-era mansions and on its fourth by the imposing façade of the Franciscan’s complex, topped by its immediately-recognisable twin bell towers. This square was originally the pre-Incan and Incan city’s main market place, known as the Tianguéz, where people from every corner of the Pacific, Andes and Amazon would come to trade their goods. It is also here that the great temples and palaces of the Incas stood, during their short-lived reign in this, the northern tip of their immense empire.

The square is perhaps best appreciated while enjoying a cup of Ecuadorian coffee at the Tianguéz café on the square’s northwestern corner (which is also a fair-trade and souvenir store).