Iglesia de El Sagrario, Quito


La Iglesia de El Sagrario is a large 17th-century chapel in Quito, Ecuador. It is adjacent to, and attached to, the 16th-century Quito Cathedral, but is generally accessed separately. It is located in the historic center of the city, on Calle Garcia Moreno, a few meters from the corner of Calle Eugenio Espejo. It is a part of the whole of the Cathedral complex, although it seems more an independent church than an attached chapel, both due to its size and to its importance in the Quiteño imagination.
Work on the foundation began in 1617 and the structure was built on a series of arches which overtopped and closed off the old Gorge of Zanguna. The façade was completed in 1706 and the remainder of the building in 1715. Between 1731 and 1747 the altarpieces of the interior were emplaced.
In El Sagrario is the mausoleum dedicated to Marshal Antonio José de Sucre, hero of Ecuadorian and Latin American independence, who had requested to be interred in his beloved Quito.
The most important work of art in El Sagrario is the sculpture ensemble known as La Sábana Santa by Manuel Chili, which is in the retrochoir.

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