Tower of Jesuitic Church in Quito: history, proportions and measurements

The towers of the churches of Quito suffered significant damage from the earthquakes of 1797, 1859, and 1868, particularly that of the Compania de Jesus church, which according to the writings of travelers and scientists was the tallest and beautiful in the city. With the last event it was partially demolished to 23.40 meters. The review of historical descriptions and architectural plans made between 1992 and 2019 by various institutions led to the study of the proportions of the facade in the relationship to the tower to analyze with precise methods, the height it must have had before the 1868 earthquake. The results of the historical, graphic, and geometric analysis established that the height of the tower was 41.60 meters; there is correspondence of proportions and measures between the facade, the church, and the tower, the tower represents 5.5 times the base module identified in the study.