Church of Santo Domingo

Lonely Planet review

Near the southwest end of Calle Guayaquil, Plaza Santo Domingo is a regular haunt for street performers, and crowds of neighborhood quiteños fill the plaza to watch pouting clowns and half-cocked magicians do their stuff. The plaza is especially attractive in the evening when the domes of the 17th-century Church of Santo Domingo, on the southeast side of the plaza, are floodlit.

In front of the church stands a statue of Mariscal Sucre, depicting the marshal pointing toward La Cima de la Libertad, where he won the decisive battle for independence on May 24, 1822.

A fabulous Gothiclike altar dominates the inside of the church. The original wooden floor was only recently replaced. An exquisite statue of the Virgen del Rosario, a gift from King Charles V of Spain, is one of the church's main showpieces; it resides in an ornately carved baroque-style side chapel. Construction of the church began in 1581 and continued until 1650.