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 The truth is that Quito history starts long before 1534, date
of the Spanish foundation. Although pre-Hispanic traces
disappeared with the conquistadors' arrival, it has been said
that before the Europeans arrived, Rumiñahui, an indigenous
warrior, set the city on fire and destroyed the temples of the
Incas who lived there. Other legends tell of such characters
as Atahualpa, last emperor of Tahuauntinsuyo, the Inca
Kingdom, who was executed in 1533 by his Spanish captors,
despite the fact that the Inca people paid a whole room full
of gold and silver for his return.
Figuring large in more
recent tales is Xavier Chusig, a crossbreed (someone of mixed
Indian and Spanish parentage) who changed his name to Eugenio
de Santa Cruz y Espejo to avoid discrimination and went on the
found the first newspaper in the city. There are still other
stories of Manuela Saenz, the first woman to join the
Bolivarian army and who became the chief lieutenant of "the
Liberator" Simon Bolivar. For them, as for many others, Quito
was the setting of their resistance and struggle. |
