The Quito Cathedral is regarded as the oldest cathedral in South America.
The present Cathedral replaced the former church built of wood and clay on the same spot.
The main building finished around 1565 has been three times renovated and rebuilt after damages caused by earthquakes ( the last in 1987 ).
Still inside there are preserved many of fine examples of work by the artists from Quito School of Art, with the most spectacular works of local artist Caspicara, like the famous group of Holy Shroud wooden sculpture.
Three naves and the main altar are Baroque in style, while the Gothic ceiling decoration shows visible traces of Moorish influence.
Inside of the side chapel ( Mausoleum Chapel ) there is a tomb of the independence army leader - Antonio Jose de Sucre, left of the main altar stands the monument of the first president Juan Jose Flores.
Behind the main altar, in the small altar of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows) one can see the plaque pointing the place, where died of wounds president Gabriel García Moreno, shot by the gun while leaving the church after the mass in 1875.
The outer walls feature plaques of the founding fathers of independence, and one commemorating Francisco de Orellana’s expedition to the Amazon, which started right there.
[ photo : courtesy of putneymark]