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 The history of this beautiful colonial
city, full of legends woven over more than 400 years, is
still alive in the memory of its inhabitants. To find its
origin it is necessary to go back in time to the 6th of
December in 1534, when the Spanish conquistadors founded the
city with 204 settlers. Before then, the present-day site of
Quito was inhabited by the Quitus, a tribe from the
Quechua civilization in a strip of land that stretched from
what is now Cerro del Panecillo in the Plaza de San Blas in the center. Called the Kingdom of Quito in the
Pre-Hispanic period, buildings in this ancient city
were made of carved tone and sun-dried
brick. Later |
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Spanish architects
incorporated the same materials into their grandiose
constructions.
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Quito in the 16th century
At the beginning of the 16th century, the
city adopted a monumental style with the construction, by the
various Catholic missions, of the impressive temples of San
Francisco, Santo Domingo, La Catedral and San Agustin.
The main events during this period took
place in or around these temples, which helped promote
religiousness among the people. |
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