Plaza de Independencia

Here are some pictures of the Plaza de Independencia. This area is the center of activity for Quito's historic center, although there are several other important plazas in Quito's historic center. Ecuador's presidential estate, Carondelet, overlooks Plaza de Independencia. An important church, Catedral Metropolitano, is located here, and the Catholic Church in Quito also has its headquarters on the plaza.

But apart from the important buildings, which are everywhere around the plaza as well as in the plaza itself, it is people that give life to Plaza de Independencia. I took these pictures on a particularly busy day, but there are always a lot of people here. People rush through in a hurry to get somewhere, or buy an ice cream cone and sit on the benches.

This view of the plaza is from the front of Catedral Metropolitano, looking out.

Carondelet, the presidential palace.

A view across the plaza in front of Carondelet. A group of dancers is doing the ribbon dance, a traditional dance that you can see if you catch one of Ecuador's International Ballet companies. I didn't notice the dance when I took the picture, but I can see the ribbons here, tied to a pole in the background on the right.

To the left of the dancers up a hill is Ipiales, a market with a little bit of everything, which used to spill out onto the street and was a very colorful area. The vendors have been moved indoors now.

I took this shot of Catedral Metropolitano at a funny angle. Plaza de Independencia is flat, not inclined as it appears here.