The inhabitants of the Republic of Ecuador mainly profess Catholicism. This is explained historically: the territory was conquered by the Spaniards at the beginning of the 16th century, and the city of San Francisco de Quito, today just Quito, the capital of Ecuador, was built on the site of an ancient Indian settlement. In 1822, the troops of Colombia's neighbor defeated the Spaniards, and Simon Bolivar gained control of Ecuador. Many transformations began in the country, but they did not affect religion. In 1892, the construction of a Catholic cathedral began in Quito.
Cathedral in Ecuador dedicated to Jesus, created in the neo-Gothic style, the largest and most beautiful in Ecuador. it amazes with its grandeur, moroseness and severity of forms. It is not typical of the local architecture. Many visitors to Quito, mainly Colombians, Venezuelans and Peruvians, look at him with envy and admiration - they have nothing like this.
The initiator of the construction of the cathedral at the end of the 19th century was the priest Matovelle, who really wanted to create a cathedral in Ecuador that resembled a French Catholic church in size and architecture. But among the Ecuadorians there was no suitable architect - the priest's requirements were too high. Then Matovelle turned to the French architect Emilio Tarlie, who had arrived on the occasion in Ecuador, with a proposal to take part in the preparation of the project for a Catholic cathedral.
Tarlie agreed, although he understood that he would have to face considerable difficulties. He returned to his homeland and began to develop a project based on the graceful classical French Cathedral of St. Stephen in Bourges. The temple in Bourges was built at the beginning of the XIV century. Tarlie returned to Ecuador and construction began. Funds for the cathedral came in the form of donations from individuals. They were all promised to immortalize their names in the stones that went to the construction of the walls. In addition, the tax on salt had to be increased, but despite all this, the construction of the cathedral moved at a slow pace.
Taking the French temple as a basis, Tarlie increased the length of the Ecuadorian cathedral by 18 meters. Alas, problems immediately arose with the walls of the two towers of the bell towers - they had to be thoroughly strengthened. By increasing the length, Tarlie reduced the width of the cathedral, while raising the height of the bell tower.
The architect Tarlie and the priest Matovelle did not live to see the completion of the construction work. They did not see what they dreamed of. The church was consecrated for worship only in 1985. Pope John Paul II arrived in Quito for this event.
