A rooftop tour of the sacred domes and spires of Quito made even a non-believer giddy with wonder'You don't believe in God? Doesn't matter," Se�or Rivas says. "But make a wish because the astral quality of Quito is exceptional."Se�or Rivas is a guide who specialises in walking tours of historic Quito. A Quite�o from a distinguished 400-year-old family, he has permission to climb inside and outside the dozens of church domes that make Quito South America's most exquisite colonial city. He looks the part with his silk cravat and Panama hat.Se�or Rivas takes me to where no tourist or local goes. We are up in the domes of San Francisco. There's a legend that San Francisco was built in one night after a local called Cantu�a made a pact with the devil: the devil built it down to the last stone, but Cantu�a gave his soul in exchange. In the morning, the devil came for Cantu�a's soul, but the wily fox had removed a stone from the dome.The cherub-studded interior is vertiginous, but when we go through a tiny door and clamber outside, I am too stunned to suffer from vertigo.Sunset washes Quito in gold. True, colonial Quito was built by the conquistadors, but quitu means "sun worshippers" in Quichua. From the top of one of seven hills once sacred to the Incas, even the city's largest Virgin seems to be catching the setting sun's fire. She is 45m tall, winged, made of aluminium, and if you see her face close up ? impossible unless you climb inside her, which I've done ? she looks as if the Latin word misericordia (compassion) was invented for her.We are now inside La Compa�ia, the psychedelically ornate Jesuit church whose dome displays a gigantic sun."Christianity and the Incas were wedded here," Se�or Rivas says.Soon, we're on the roof, and Se�or Rivas explains how the spine of Quito is the Pichincha volcano (which erupted spectacularly in 1999 and covered the city in ash), and how the churches of Quito are aligned. We survey the sun-gilded skyline of domes, spires and hills.Next, we pop into San Agustin, where two monks live in silence. I'll never forget San Agustin because here I see the embodiment of agony and ecstasy. It's the shockingly human sculpture of a post-crucifixion Jesus, by Quito's mystic artist Miguel de Santiago. He was a perfectionist: to sculpt this, the story goes, he killed one of his students.All the church bells toll in brassy harmony now. Inside the Dominican monastery Santo Domingo, we slip backstage into the chapel of the rosary. It's all gold, red ? like Christ's blood ? and mirrors. The indigenous believed they contained their souls, and gave the Spaniards gold for mirrors. The gold built these extravagant temples. A life-sized Virgin in purple holds a string of huge pearls. "Nobody goes behind the Virgin, except us," Se�or Rivas whispers, and pushes a dwarf's door weighing a tonne. We slip behind the Virgin, and for a moment, I swear her hair is stirred by an invisible breath. In the vast church hall, two young guys with ponytails begin to strum old guitars: time for vespers. Their clothes are tatty.We are now on the roof, but I can hear the guitars and the humble Andean folk downstairs singing a melancholy refrain. Their voices seem to come from nowhere: "You will be our light/ You will save us, you will give us life."A lump the size of Pichincha volcano melts in my throat. I feel immense sadness and immense joy to be here, at the Andean heart of the human experience. I'm no virgin, but perhaps this is what misericordia feels like."Did you make a wish?" Se�or Rivas says gently and takes off his Panama hat."Yes," I swallow the lump."I thought so," he nods. "I will always remember you as the atheist girl from Britain who cried on top of Santo Domingo at sunset." He winks at me, and all the wrinkles in his face smile.? Contact Se�or Rivas at julio@quitocitytour.comKapka Kassabova's novel Villa Pacifica (Alma Books, �12.99) is set on the South American Pacific coast and is out on 1 AugustEcuadorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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