(tianguez, doctrine, market, water supply). The Atrium, which was the one that, without ceasing to fulfill urban functions, had much more sacred characteristics than the plaza. This, at least during the 16th and 17th centuries, was the burial place for the common people. This space is preceded by a half concave and half convex staircase, inspired by a design by Bramante according to some and by Bernini according to others. The entire atrium is made of andesite stone extracted from the quarry of the Pichincha volcano. The church and chapels, which were properly sacred places. The main cloister/courtyard was built between 1573 and 1581. It has two galleries: the lower one with canted arches in the Mudéjar style on Doric columns, and the upper one with segmental or basket-handle arches. Style The original plans of the basilica were subjected to various changes throughout the almost 150 years that its construction took. Many times these changes were "violent and misguided" due to earthquake damage and the evolution of art and culture to finally reach the almost Eclectic form we know it today; That is why San Francisco is one of the most important buildings in Colonial Hispanic American architecture. The facade of the basilica reflects the early presence, and for the first time in South America, of Mannerist elements, which made it a point of reference for this style on the continent. The Renaissance severity and exterior Mannerism contrast with the internal decoration of the church, in which Mudéjar and Baroque styles are mixed with gold leaf to give an unusual splendour. In its three naves, San Francisco unveils Mudéjar artesonado ceilings, lavishly decorated altarpieces and columns of various styles. In the choir, the Mudéjar decoration, original from the end of the 16th century, remains intact because the central nave collapsed in an earthquake and was replaced by a Baroque coffered ceiling in 1770. Mudéjar ceilings at the ends, Baroque in the central nave, altarpieces full of images, mascarons and cherubs looking at the center of the High Altar. The complex is completed with the Convent, in which the architectural beauty of the main cloister stands out, arranged around the immense courtyard, in two superimposed galleries. Chapel of Villacís The most outstanding case in the second half of the 17th century was that of Don Francisco de Villacís who, on 6 November 1659, founded a chaplaincy of ten thousand pesos, census