Quito lies in a long Andean basin beneath the volcanoes, and its historic centre is one of the largest and best preserved in Latin America, among the very first sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This first part follows the monumental city: the Plaza Grande with the cathedral and the seat of government, the great convent complexes that occupy entire blocks, the carved stone facades, the arcades and the tiled roofs that define the skyline. The camera reads how a Spanish grid was imposed on steep Andean ground and what that produced, streets that climb, squares that tilt, views that open suddenly onto the mountains. Filmed in 4K in the sharp equatorial light, the episode establishes the geography and the architecture that part two will carry into the streets, the crafts and the daily life of the old city.
