Diego Maroto

Who was Diego Maroto?

Fray Diego Maroto was the most important Peruvian architect of the second half of the 17th century.

Maroto occupied the positions of Maestro Mayor de Fabricas de la Catedral Metropolitana, supervisor of the unions of architects and Maestro Mayor de las Fabricas Reales during a four decade-long period of major civil construction projects in Lima.

As an architect of the Dominican Order, Maroto developed a vault resistant to earthquakes. The technique was imitated after the earthquake of 1687 in many monumental constructions in Lima, like the Cathedral of Lima and the Church of the Convent of San Agustín the Great of Lima. His works include those for the male and female convents in the city of Lima, the parishes and Metropolitan cathedral. His most important work was the College of Saint Thomas. The major cloister of the school is the only round cloister in South America.