In Quito, Ecuador, La Basilica is situated on one of the city’s northern hills and is one of Quito’s earliest religious buildings. Its construction began in 1892 and, a hundred years later, it was consecrated by the Pope. The tradition of mediaeval glass painting was used for the basilica’s large colourful windows. The building is an architectural symbol of an autocratic Catholic church which dominated the country until the Liberal Revolution of 1925.

Quirto’s historic centre was built on the ruins of an Inca city and on the 6th December, 1536, Quito became re-established. When Spanish conquistador, Sebastian De Benalcazar, invaded, the Incas destroyed their settlement. Thus everything had to be re-built.

The Plaza Grande, the heart of the old town, originated at that time and it was in this square that the county’s history unfolded from its foundation right up until its Independence.

The former capital of the northern Inca realm became the most Spanish city of the New World and today, churches, monasteries and squares continue to gleam in their colonial splendour. The remarkable legacy of a rich and dramatic past!