Description

Located next to the well-known Parque de la Alameda, this church was constructed between 1694 and 1697, and reconstructed on two separate occasions: once in 1787 and again between 1976 and 1990. It is part of a set of buildings which have the church at their center, and which were erected on the site of an old hermitage from 1546, in the same place where the first mass was celebrated in Quito upon the city's foundation. Another hermitage, Ermita de Vera Cruz was also erected here with a wooden crucifix inside, carved by well-known Caspicaran artist. The church has a raised atrium surrounded by brick guardrails. The vestry is connected to the vicarage, which has an interior patio with a gallery and wooden columns.