Main view of the monastery and church, with the San Francisco Square in front of them.
The San Francisco Church is the biggest architectural complex of all the Americas historic centers. With six cloisters, a big major temple, one additional church, dozens of chapels and various gardens, this complex is also known as the Escorial of America (in reference to the spanish monastery and palace).
With the support of European Franciscans, the Flemish Friar Joost de Rijcke, known in Spanish as Jodoco Ricke and Friar Pedro Gosseal who came to the city two years after its founding acquired land to the west side of the city's main plaza. This plot was where the palace of the Incan ruler Atahualpa had once stood. In addition to being a market center for indigenous Ecuadorians, it was also location of the military seats of the chiefs of indigenous armies. All told, the place had enormous strategic and historical significance for the indigenous people the Franciscans wanted to evangelize.
The building's construction began around 1550, sixteen years after Quito was founded by Spanish conquerors, and was finished approximately in 1680. The building was officially inaugurated in 1605. It is not known who designed the original plans for the complex, though the most-accepted theory is that they were sent from Spain, based on the topographical study of Ricke and Gosseal. It is also possible that architects came from Spain for the construction of the monastery, or that Ricke and Gosseal managed the entire construction.