Church and Convent of St. Francis

Church and Monastery of St. Francis
Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco
Church and Plaza de San Francisco
Basic information
Location	Quito, Ecuador
Geographic coordinates	0°13′13″S 78°30′56″W / 0.22028°S 78.51556°W / -0.22028; -78.51556Coordinates: 0°13′13″S 78°30′56″W / 0.22028°S 78.51556°W / -0.22028; -78.51556
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Province	Archdiocese of Quito
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Francisco Cantuña
Architectural type	Church
Groundbreaking	1534
Completed	1604
Direction of façade	Southeast

The Church and Monastery of St. Francis (Spanish: Iglesia y Monasterio de San Francisco), commonly known as el San Francisco, is a 16th-century Roman Catholic complex in Quito, Ecuador. It fronts onto its namesake Plaza de San Francisco. The imposing structure has the distinction of being the largest architectural ensemble among the historical structures of colonial Latin America and for this reason is sometimes known as "El Escorial of the New World". The style evolved over almost 150 years of construction (1534-1680) through earthquakes and changes in artistic fashion. The Church houses the city's beloved Virgin of Quito (1734).

The San Francisco de Quito convent defined itself in its relations with the outside world according to three spaces:

Together, Church and Convent encompass three hectares including 13 cloisters (six of them major), three churches, and a large courtyard. In total, about 40,000 square meters of construction. San Francisco follows the classical typology of medieval monasteries. The main Church is the guiding axis and from there the cloister galleries extend: the refectory, the chapterhouse, and winery. These define a quadrangular courtyard, with the four respective pandas, or galleries: that of the chapter room, the refectory, the converts, and the mandatum. In addition to the basic dependencies of a convent, there were areas devoted to health care, education, crafts, a garden, and even a jail (to maintain strict discipline). The kitchen and dispensery operated in the cloister of services.

The facade of the main Church reflects, for the first time in South America, Mannerist elements, which later became a reference point for that style in the rest of the continent. The severity of the building's Renaissance and Mannerist exterior contrasts with the inner decoration of the Church, in which Mudejar and Baroque elements bathe the nave, chapels, and high altar in an exotic golden splendour. In its nave and aisles, the Church of San Francisco reveals its Mudejar (Moorish) coffered ceilings, lavishly decorated altarpieces, and columns fashoned in different styles. In the choir — original from the end of the 16th century — Mudejar details are fully preserved, although the central nave was brought down by an earthquake and then replaced by a Baroque coffered ceiling in 1770.