Capital of the Republic of Ecuador. In 1565 it was the headquarters of a Franciscan province. It contained a seminary in charge of the Jesuits, which was the center of ecclesiastical studies for all middle, and northern South America, and high schools run by the Dominicans and Augustinians. It was ruined by an earthquake in 1735 but was rebuilt and in 1829 became the capital of Ecuador. Quito is remarkable for its beautiful churches, especially the 17th-century Jesuit church of Santa Ana, San Francisco, La Merced, and El Sagrario. The university founded by Sixtus V and Philip II and opened in 1621 by the Jesuits, was reorganized 1895 and is now a State institution. It still occupies a portion of the old Jesuit College, and its excellent library is formed in part from the San Luis seminary. The observatory was erected under the celebrated astronomer, Father Menten, and German Jesuits lectured there until they were expelled, through the Masons.