Quito Old Town: Complete Visitor Guide
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Quito’s Centro Histórico was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978, part of the very first cohort of sites the organization ever inscribed, alongside a handful of others rather than standing alone as the first city named. Nearly five decades later, UNESCO still calls it the best-preserved, least-altered historic center in Latin America: roughly 320 hectares holding more than 130 monumental buildings and 24 churches, much of it built directly atop earlier Inca foundations.
Plaza Grande, the heart of it
Independence Square, known locally as Plaza Grande, anchors the old town, ringed by the Carondelet Presidential Palace and the Cathedral of Quito. It’s the natural starting point for a walk through the district and the site of most of the city’s civic ceremonies and processions.
La Compañía de Jesús
Built between 1605 and 1765, this Jesuit church holds one of the finest baroque interiors in the Americas, its walls and altarpieces said to be covered in gold leaf, though the exact quantity is genuinely disputed and best treated as an estimate rather than a fixed figure. Entry runs about $6, free on the first Sunday of the month.
San Francisco and the Quito School
Founded in 1535-36, the Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco is the largest religious complex in South America, sometimes called “El Escorial del Nuevo Mundo.” It’s also where the colonial Quito School (Escuela Quiteña) of religious art got its start, most famously with Bernardo de Legarda’s 1734 winged Virgen de Quito, alongside work by the sculptor Caspicara. That same winged-Virgin motif later inspired the much larger aluminum statue that now stands atop El Panecillo hill overlooking the city. The attached museum runs around $2.
Basílica del Voto Nacional
This neo-Gothic basilica breaks from tradition by carving its gargoyles as Galápagos animals rather than the usual grotesques, a distinctly Ecuadorian touch on an otherwise European architectural style. Its towers are climbable via steep interior stairs and ladders, for around $2 entry plus a few dollars more for the climb, and reward the effort with a rooftop view over the surrounding rooftops and plazas.
La Ronda and Calle García Moreno
La Ronda, a restored colonial pedestrian street, fills with canelazo stalls and empanadas de viento in the evenings; the street itself stays safe and busy after dark, though it’s worth skipping its quieter side alleys late at night. Nearby, Calle García Moreno, nicknamed “de las Siete Cruces” (the street of the seven crosses), rewards a slower, quieter walk away from the main plazas.
Casa del Alabado
For a break from colonial architecture, this small museum inside a converted colonial house focuses entirely on pre-Columbian art, a useful counterpoint to the Spanish-era churches that otherwise dominate the district.
Practical notes
Quito sits at roughly 2,850 meters, and the old town’s cobbled streets are hilly, so pace yourself if you’ve just arrived; the airport itself sits lower, around 2,400 meters, meaning you ascend into the city rather than out of it. Most sights here are walkable from Plaza Grande, but for anything further, or for getting home after dark, use a licensed orange-plate taxi or an app like Uber or Cabify rather than a street taxi.
For where these sights fit into a full trip, see our Quito travel guide .