Basilica and Convent of San Francisco

The Basilica and Convent of San Francisco occupies several acres of downtown Quito, defined by a massive, uneven stone patio that rises sharply from the street. Franciscan friars arrived in fifteen thirty-four, just days after the city was founded, and claimed this hillside. They spent the next century filling the site with cloisters, gardens, and a church. A local legend says the indigenous architect Cantuña built the atrium by selling his soul to the devil, only to hide a single stone to break the contract.