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San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador San Francisco de Quito is the capital city of Ecuador. It was founded in the 16th century by the Spanish colonizers on the ruins of an Incan city (UNESCO).The historic center of Quito is one of the best preserved in Latin America, despite the earthquake that destroyed the city 1917 it is the least altered Centro Historico (UNESCO).The Centro Historico complex of Quito composes more than 130 historic sites and buildings which ultimately led to being the first World Heritage Site declaration by UNESCO in 1978. The 320 acres of building complexes in Quito represent the ultimate Latin American Centro Historico in the combination of styles and colonial architecture as well as the Latin American Baroque. The baroque style in Quito is the combination of Spanish, Italian, Moorish and Indigenous art (UNESCO). The city of Quito was laid under the regulations dictated by the Law of the Indies in rectangular squares and streets that align with the cardinal points (Scarpaci, 78). The combination of Spanish/ Moorish courtyard housing and the baroque public buildings provide impressive architecture in a historic urban layout. The central Plaza Mayor was later renamed Plaza Independencia and still stands with the Jesuit cathedral, government palace and the city hall surrounding it. The 1978 declaration of Quito as a World Heritage Site provided impulse for public and private investment in the Centro Historico. Carrion supports the intervention of the private financing in Quito enabled a dynamic awakening in reclaiming the Centro Historico as a space for cultural recreation (19).