The Historic Center of Quito

We made our way to the historic center of Quito where we were introduced to several churches, one of which was totally covered in gold inside. Each chapel as well as the nave had been made of wood and then bathed in gold, and when a fire nearly burned down parts of the church a few years ago, they repaired it with the same. We had lunch at the Bishop's palace, a beautiful building constructed by the Spaniards and used as the home for the local bishop. The religious artwork was probably created by local artesans who were taught by the Europeans who were brought in to teach them to paint, and in some of the churches, some of the paintings were obviously used to protest the religion of the Spaniards. The food was very good and the setting was beautiful. It isn't often one gets to eat in such a gorgeous place. After lunch we walked around the plaza, looking at the Inca architecture on which the Spaniards built their buildings. In the next few posts, I will discuss some of what we learned.