Franciscan missionaries arrived in Quito, Ecuador in 1534, the year it was founded by the Spanish Empire. At that time, the city was called the Province of San Francisco of Quito. The friars then expanded across Ecuador with the purpose of converting indigenous people to Christianity. The Franciscans were located in the Old City of Guayaquil and had a church there from 1582 until 1789. Then they moved to the New City and built the San Francisco Church. It was destroyed several times. The current one at Plaza San Francisco was finished in the mid-20th century. The gilded altarpiece is magnificent. It forms the focal point of the three intersecting naves. An alternative name for this Roman Catholic Church is Our Lady of the Angels.
