In more specific provisions such as the Royal Ordinance of Charles I of Spain in 1523, a legal corpus is formed where the hypodamic plan layout of the founding of new cities is regularly configured. This Ordinance establishes:

The model of the city founded by the Spanish colonizers is delimited, which responds to the classic model of regular geometric layout, the so-called hypodamic plan, which was the model that expanded from the Greek poleis, passing through the Roman cities and which would lead, passing through the Renaissance theoretical model, to the pattern that, with variants, would be consolidated in the layout of the Granada city of Santa Fe "Santa Fe (Granada)"), founded by the Catholic Monarchs. in 1491. The kings insisted on making this old temporary Christian camp that was besieging the Nasrid city of Granada a city, of solid construction, as proof that this time it was going to be the place from which the last and definitive assault would be carried out, and the conquest of Granada in 1492, the last Muslim stronghold in the Iberian Peninsula.

The urban layout of Santa Fe approaches orthogonal shapes, at right angles, organized from two longitudinal streets and a transversal one at whose intersection the plaza appears, where civil and ecclesiastical buildings are located. A little later, the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna on the island of Tenerife, founded between 1496 and 1497 by the advance Alonso Fernández de Lugo, followed the "new population" procedures that the Crown of Castile established in the conquest expeditions. This model, in the form of a grid, was experimented in the recently conquered Canary Islands and would also serve as a precedent for the vast majority of the new viceregal cities during the subsequent conquests of the Castilians in America and Asia.[9]​.

However, the idea of ​​laying out a city in the shape of a grid is not exclusive to Europeans. The idea is also found in America, especially in the ancient cities of the Aztecs and Mayans.[10]​.

Starting in 1496, the inhabitants of the city of La Isabela began to leave and emigrate to other parts of the island and in 1500 it had been completely abandoned, and was never inhabited again. The viceregal city of Santo Domingo, today in the Dominican Republic, was founded in 1498, considered the oldest city in the New World still existing and is an excellent archetype of this viceregal urban and architectural style, with its grid streets.

Regarding city planning, successive ordinances had details about the preferred location of a new city and its location in relation to the sea, mountains and rivers. It also detailed the shape and measurements of the central plaza taking into account the spacing for commercial purposes, as well as the spacing for festivals or for the military, which sometimes involved the use of horses. In addition to specifying the location of the church "Church (building)"), the orientation of the roads leading to the main square, or even the width of the streets in relation to climatic conditions. The order in which the city should be built was also specified.[11]​.

In 1510 the city of Nombre de Dios "Name of God (Columbus)") (Panama) was founded; in 1515, Cumaná (Venezuela); in 1519, Havana (Cuba); León (Nicaragua) "León (Nicaragua)") and Granada (Nicaragua) "Granada (Nicaragua)") in 1524; Panama and Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz (Mexico); in 1525, Santa Marta "Santa Marta (Colombia)") (Colombia); in 1531, Guadalajara "Guadalajara (Mexico)") (Mexico); in 1533, Cartagena de Indias (Colombia); in 1534, San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador); in 1535, Lima (Peru); in 1536, Santa María del Buen Aire (Argentina); in 1537, Asunción (Paraguay); in 1538, Santa Fe de Bogotá (Colombia) and Villa de La Plata de la Nueva Toledo (Bolivia); in 1541, Santiago de Chile (Chile) in 1542, Mérida de Yucatán (Mexico) in 1545, Potosí (Bolivia), in 1548, Our Lady of La Paz (Bolivia); in 1548, Mendoza "Mendoza (Argentina)") (Argentina); in 1565, San Agustín de la Florida (United States).[12] Also on the Asian continent, the viceregal city of Intramuros was founded in 1571, today a district of Manila (Philippines).

The impressive foundation of cities, in such a short space of time, was due to the expansion and dynamics of the conquest itself, both from a military point of view (supply, chain of communications, base for future explorations), political (administrative centers), economic (distribution of land, trade) or social (contact between settlers and natives, social and religious indoctrination).[13] Around 1575 the Council of the Indies carried out an inventory and recognition of the domains where the important emigration towards "Las Indias", of around 100,000 Spaniards so far, which facilitated the founding of more than 500 cities in the entire Indian territories.[14] The number of cities founded reached, with reliable documentation, 230 in 1580 and up to 330 cities in 1630, all with stable settlements, and many others without being conveniently documented, so the real number is probably more double.[13]​.

In 1573, Philip II dictated, through the Council of the Indies, the Ordinances of discoveries, new population and pacification of the Indies, which compiled the ordinances and charters that had been issued eighty years before, including those issued by Charles I in 1523. In them, seeking stability and monitoring of his power, the urban planning model was specified and reworked, reflecting the experience existing until then, although it must be taken into account that the Most of the cities had already been erected.[15] They regulate, with Vitrubian and Renaissance inspiration, the model of the "ideal city", the arrangement of the elements that will be found in all the cities of the continent, such as the orthogonal layout of the road network, the width and orientation of the streets according to the climate, the size of the urban blocks, the empty urban block to be used as a municipal square and the location of the main and secondary churches, the construction of the church on the eastern side of the block, because the Catholic rite requires that the altar face east. The location of the squares is also regulated depending on whether the town is coastal or inland, in addition to the corresponding reserves of communal land and others.[16]​.

The first foundations, due to the needs of the moment, were fortified factories, which served as a platform for commercial exchanges and security, and the base on which they launched the exploration of new territories. When the situation was thought to be stabilized, settlements were carried out, in which the order model was imposed. Thus, mainly, due to the urgency in providing shelter to the first Spanish settlers, there were foundations of cities that, at the beginning, did not adjust to the definitive Hippodamic model, such as in La Isabela, the first foundation of Santo Domingo, Caparra "Caparra (Puerto Rico)") (Puerto Rico) in 1508, Sevilla la Nueva (Jamaica) in 1509 or Santa María la Antigua del Darién (Panama) in 1510. In the second founding of Santo Domingo, the grid shape and the location of the main buildings next to the plaza would already be evident.[16]​.

To achieve both an effect of inspiring awe among the indigenous peoples of the Americas, and of creating a legible and militarily manageable landscape, the early settlers used and located the new architecture within planned urban landscapes and complexes dedicated to the missions "Mission (Christianity)"). Many of the cities built were accommodated in already existing centers of the great indigenous civilizations, although almost never taking advantage of their original design. In other cases, their location was established for economic reasons, such as in the case of mining operations, or because they were commercially and militarily strategic, such as in the case of cities with sea ports.[15]​.

The act of founding and settlement was regulated and had to be recorded in a notarial act that included "the allocation of the plots for housing, the layout of streets and squares, the distribution of common lands, farmland and livestock, the constitution of the first council, the fixing of taxes and the Indian encomiendas."[12]​.

The Spanish viceregal city was the basis of the administrative and political life of the territory assigned to the Spanish viceroyalties, and arose, among others, from the need to organize, politically, socially, economically and militarily, the management of the new territories that were being discovered. In them, where appropriate, the headquarters of civil and ecclesiastical organizations were located.

Although it cannot be said that there is a city model that is systematically repeated, at least there are some common characteristics that lead us to consider the way in which the Spanish viceregal cities were built and that the Argentine historian Jorge Enrique Hardoy defined as "classic model of the Hispanic American city." It consists of a geometric layout, in a cord, around a main square, which would be the heart and geometric and symbolic center of the city, and on its perimeter would be the buildings of power such as the viceregal palace or equivalent, town hall, cathedral or equivalent and palace of justice. Festivals and the market were held there. In the streets that surround it, there would be the residences of the main civil and religious officials, such as the conquerors and royal officials and the most important residents of the city.[12] The main businesses are also located around this central area. It also facilitated defense, since by having straight streets towards the city gates, it allowed better surveillance and to go with reinforcements, quickly, to any point where it was necessary.[17]​

The most common parceling is established by means of straight streets that intersect, mainly forming trapezoidal (grid), rectangular (orthogonal grid) or square (grid) blocks. The last case, the most numerous and representative, is what is called "Spanish grid".[18]​ Radiated from the main square, the grids could extend as the settlement grew, prevented only by geography.[19]​.

The Laws of the Indies order "that the plan of the place to be founded always be prepared",[20]​ they specify the layout and propose a settlement pattern based on social position, where people of higher social status live closer to the center of the city, the center of political, ecclesiastical and economic power. The 1790 census for Mexico City indicates that in the central layout, there was indeed a greater concentration of Spaniards, but there was no absolute segregation, racial or class, in the city, especially because elite households generally had non-white servants.[21]​.

The grids were not limited to urban settlements, as Indiano reductions and congregations were created in a similar grid-like manner for the Indians in order to organize these populations into more manageable units for the purposes of taxation, military efficiency, and teaching the Indians the Spanish way of life.

As the modern cities of Spanish America have grown, they have erased or blended the previous standard spatial and social organization of the urban landscape. Elites do not always live closer to the city center and the specific space that citizens occupy is not necessarily determined by their social status. The central plaza, wide streets, and a grid pattern remain common elements in Mexico City and Puebla de los Ángeles. It is not uncommon for cities founded today, especially those in the more remote areas of America, to have preserved the 'checkerboard layout' even to this day.

Mexico City is a good example of how these ordinances were followed when designing the city. Formerly the capital of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan was captured and placed under Spanish rule in 1521. After news of the conquest, the king sent instructions very similar to the aforementioned Ordinance of 1513. In some parts the instructions are almost verbatim to the previous ones, intended to guide the conqueror (Hernán Cortés) on how to lay out the city and how to assign land to the Spanish. It is noted, however, that although the king may have sent many of these orders and instructions to other conquistadors, Cortés was perhaps the first to implement them. He insisted on building a new city where the capital of the Empire had been, and incorporated features of the old square into the new grid. This was accomplished very successfully by being accompanied by men familiar with the royal instructions and the grid system. It is also true that Cortés completed planning and was on track to finish the construction of Mexico City before the royal ordinances directed specifically at him arrived. Men like Cortés and Alonso García Bravo who had the degree of geometer and who had previously built various fortifications, played a crucial role in creating an urban landscape of the cities of the New World as we know them today.

Very early on, from the Settlement Instructions of King Ferdinand the Catholic in 1513 and the Ordinances of King Charles I in 1523, the important role of the main square was highlighted:

Within the urban layout, one of the central blocks was left free of construction so that the main government, administrative and ecclesiastical buildings could be built in its surroundings. The main economic activities take place there, in addition to serving for the weekly market or for holding entertainment and celebrations, such as bullfights. It is a place to see and be seen, especially after mass on Sundays and it is also the place from where the sides, warnings and prohibitions are proclaimed.[12]​.

Also, in the main squares of the most important capitals, large commemorations could take place that were adorned with ephemeral art, such as when to commemorate the Peace of Aigues-Mortes between Charles V of Spain and Francis I of France, great parties were held in the main square of Mexico, also called El Zócalo. The square was embellished with a reproduction of forests, with trees, bushes, flowers and a multitude of birds. Simulations of famous battles were also made that exalted the triumphs. of the Hispanic monarchy.[22]​.

In some cases, the place where the ceremonies of pre-Hispanic civilizations took place was used to raise, structure and construct buildings around the new main square, as in the case where rites typical of the Inca era were carried out, in the city of Cuzco.[23]​.

The main square becomes the basic element of the structuring and generation of the city itself that is organized around it. It is also called the parade ground, because the troops who were on guard formed and exercised there. It is usually considered the most characteristic element of the viceregal city.[15]​.

See also: Spanish Missions in California, Monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl, Franciscan Missions of the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro and Mendicant Monasteries in Mexico.

The bulls Inter caetera imposed as a public duty the "evangelization of the infidels", as the root and foundation of colonization. Missionaries were already included in Columbus's second voyage, who were sent in increasing numbers with this objective. In places with dense indigenous settlements, such as in central Mexico, mendicant orders (Franciscans, Dominicans and Augustinians) built churches, preferably on the sites of pre-Hispanic temples. It was the usual system in the Iberian Peninsula and in other countries, to build churches in places that had previously been pagan.

The new churches and mission complexes sought to maximize their effect in terms of position and dominance of the surrounding buildings or landscape. For this to be possible, they had to be strategically located, either in the center of a city square or at one of the highest points in the landscape. These features are common and can also be found in almost all cities and towns in Spain.

In the early period, there were so many indigenous neophytes attending mass that it could only be done outside the church, so large open-air atriums were built, and open chapels before it. A space within the ecclesiastical complex was walled off to create an expanded sacred space without large construction costs.[24] In the atrium, the posas chapels were located, as a dynamic element in the spatial structuring. It was not only due to lack of covered space, but because the indigenous people were accustomed, in pre-Hispanic religions, to performing ceremonies outdoors. This architectural solution is found throughout Latin America, with those located in Mexico being the richest and most decorated.

Indigenous labor was used in construction, since the sacred place of a community was a symbol and embodiment of that community. Working to create these structures was not necessarily an unwanted burden. Since Mexico experienced many epidemics throughout the century that resulted in a significant decline in the indigenous population in central Mexico, there were often churches built by few Indians, such as the Augustinian church "Temple and ex-convent of San Agustín (Acolman)") in Acolman, Mexico. This church, with a Renaissance repertoire on its façade, with balustraded columns, has been linked to the Spanish Collegiate Church of Santa María la Mayor "Collegiate Church of Santa María la Mayor (Calatayud)") of Calatayud, in the province of Zaragoza.

The different mendicant orders had different styles of construction. The Franciscans built large churches to accommodate the new neophytes, but they were the most sober, the Dominican churches had transepts "Cross (architecture)") and were highly ornamented, while the Augustinian churches, which had not taken a vow of poverty, were characterized by their critics as opulent and sumptuous,[25] and covered their convents with wall paintings.

Mission churches were often simple in design. As the mendicants were expelled from central Mexico and the Jesuits had also begun to evangelize the indigenous people of northern Mexico, mission churches were built as part of a larger mission complex, with housing and workshops for the indigenous residents. Unlike central Mexico, where churches were built in existing indigenous towns, on the border where indigenous people did not live in such settlements, the missionary complex was created.[26]​.

In Central America, churches were built once a city was founded, if possible, where an indigenous town already existed, as is the case of the city of Comayagua in Honduras, which was located in a valley densely populated by natives, similar to the case of the Valley of Mexico. The first churches that the Franciscans built to evangelize the population were the Iglesia de la Merced "Iglesia de la Merced (Comayagua)") of 1550, the Church of San Francisco "Iglesia de San Francisco (Comayagua)") of 1560, and later, in 1631, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Comayagua "Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Comayagua)"). In the rest of America, authorities followed a similar pattern.

The first cathedrals built in America were produced when the metropolis was in the midst of the Renaissance reaction against the Plateresque. The first cathedral on the continent was built in what was the first capital of the Indies, Santo Domingo. Although it seems to have been started in 1521, its consecration was delayed until 1541. Started in late Gothic style, it consists of three naves "Nave (architecture)"), the central one, with a cross vault, ending in a polygonal apse and the lateral ones, narrower, are rectangular.[27]​ The main doorway already has a Renaissance typology, with an accumulation of classical themes. The delicate themes of rosettes appear, stems topped by scrolls, flameros, glasses, and in the frieze puttis linked with scrolls and animals.

It will be at the end of the century when the foundations of the Spanish-American baroque begin to take shape, and it will be the wealth provided, above all, by the mines of Zacatecas (Viceroyalty of New Spain) and Potosí (Viceroyalty of Peru), together with the growing bourgeoisie, the counter-reformation, promoted by the Jesuits, which will allow the American continent to be flooded with baroque architecture, between the centuries and , although we can no longer speak of a single baroque, but of a New Spanish Baroque, a Caribbean Baroque, an Ibero-American Baroque, due to multiethnic cultural differences.

It will be a baroque with its own characteristics, a mix between European and indigenous traditions. Most notable is the taste for exuberant ornamentation. It does not seek chiaroscuro as in European baroque, but is archaizing, flat and colorful, as if it were a tapestry, although it follows the baroque style of horror vacui. The decoration can be of the type of animals and tropical fruits, such as parrots, pineapples or papayas, of the Renaissance type, such as mermaids and masks, of the pre-Hispanic type, such as masks or pumas or other Christian or properly Spanish symbols.[7]​.

However, there are hardly any differences in their plan "Plan (architecture)"). The altarpiece portals), with antecedents in the convent church of San Pablo "Iglesia de San Pablo (Valladolid)") in Valladolid or the baroque façade of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, had great popularity in America. In some way, it aims to announce the main altarpiece inside the church, as if there were an ideal, invisible nave on the outside, as you approach it. And it is adopted, above all, in the New Spain baroque, a new architectural order, the stipe "Estípite (architecture)").[7]​.

Colombia has several colonial cathedrals begun in the 19th century, among which the Tunja Cathedral "Santiago Apóstol Metropolitan Basilica Cathedral (Tunja)" stands out, considered the oldest preserved; the Primate Cathedral of Bogotá, whose first major temple was built in 1539; and those of Santa Marta and Cartagena de Indias "Cathedral of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (Cartagena de Indias)"), built and expanded throughout the colonial centuries. Together, these temples show the architectural evolution of the New Kingdom of Granada, from the initial traces to the baroque and neoclassical transformations.

Mexico has thirty-three cathedrals, the most important, founded in the century, are those of Mérida, Mexico City, Puebla and Guadalajara "Cathedral of Guadalajara (Mexico)"). Of these, in the last three, it continued to be completed in the following two centuries.

The cathedral of Mexico will become the paradigm of viceregal architecture. The architect Francisco Becerra (1545-1605) will build the cathedral of Puebla according to this model, with four towers, then he will go to Cuzco, where he participated in the construction of its cathedral, which was built on the Inca palace of Viracocha and later in Lima, he will build his cathedral, which had begun between 1560 and 1570.[28]​.

Some of the generic characteristics are established in civil architecture that do not always occur at all times and places in America.

Fundamentally, the typology of a palace would be rectangular in plan, with arches on the long sides. The first known palace would be that of Colón, in Santo Domingo, which would later be imitated in Cuernavaca (Mexico) in 1529. The model that would have been used would be the Castilian Palacio de Saldañuela, in Serracín, (Burgos).[27] In the main square of Mexico City, the original civil architecture, now missing, would consist of the palace of Hernán Cortés, with two crenellated towers and the palace of the viceroys, fully crenellated and with a doorway flanked by columns. It is assumed that these shapes should be similar to those of the Palacio de Cortés that can still be seen in Cuernavaca. Furthermore, the first palace in South America would be the Palacio de San Carlos from 1580 in the city of Santa Fe de Bogotá.

The type of housing of wealthy settlers in some cities, during the 19th century, was generally structured around a main patio and a service patio, with arcades on two sides. The walls to the street are closed. When the building consisted of two floors, the lower floor was left for the service and warehouses and the upper floor for the bedrooms and living room. The stately homes had a historiated "Front (architecture)" cover. During the 19th century, the main patios began to have arches on all four sides and the walls to the street opened with shops so that the owner could earn extra income. The façades are still important and openings open to the outside. There may be wooden balconies, which will become one of the characteristics of viceregal civil architecture.[29]​.

The first hospital foundation was the Hospital San Nicolás de Bari, in Santo Domingo, made by Governor Nicolás de Ovando between 1502 and 1509. Until 1519 it had a temporary construction, and it was made permanently in 1533. It would be the first of a series of viceregal hospitals such as in San Juan de Puerto Rico "San Juan (Puerto Rico)"), Havana, Mexico, Panama, Lima, Caracas or Santiago de Chile, among others. They obey the typology established by Enrique Egas, whose most prototypical hospital is the Hospital de los Reyes Católicos, in Santiago de Compostela. There are two large pavilions that intersect orthogonally, and in the transept, a chapel or church to hear mass from the beds.[27] In general, the hospitals derive from the Spanish ones, with a cruciform or T-shaped plan (tau). The transept could be made up of four brick arches. Additionally, there were two or more patios and a building for the most seriously ill. It had separate pavilions for men and women. It could also have a church.[30]​.

The institution of the council was very important in the organization and government of the cities, a fundamental element of the political structures of the viceroyalties. As early as 1517, the colonists could elect their ordinary mayors or presidents in open town councils, where the edicts had to be read and discussed publicly. To do this, it had to be a building that stood out from the others within the main square and its typology had to adapt to such functions, with a space open to that square. Its main room was located on the upper floor, and in front, an arched gallery that overlooked the plaza, supported by an archway on the ground floor.[31]​ It usually contained the prison, archives, and rooms for judges and clerks.

The study centers and universities, very similar to those that existed in Castile and in accordance with the European systems of the time, spread rapidly throughout Spanish America. The convents of the religious orders and the diocesan seminaries were at first the places of teaching. The Franciscans founded in 1533 the Colegio de San Francisco "Temple and ex-convent of San Francisco (Mexico City)") in Mexico City or the Colegio de la Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, the first institution of higher education in America, preparatory for the university, intended for indigenous people. Depending on the category of the city, universities are founded. Soon, the Dominicans, under the protection of their Studium generale, which they had established in their convent of Santo Domingo, managed to have these studies elevated to the rank of university through a papal bull in 1538, following the model of the University of Alcalá "University of Alcalá (historical)").[32] The two important universities, located in the centers of viceregal power, the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, in Lima, which would be the oldest, founded as such, in America, and the University of Mexico, were both founded in 1551, following the models of Salamanca and Alcalá "University of Alcalá (historical)"). Residence halls were also founded, such as the Colegio Mayor de Santa María de Todos Santos, in 1573.

The educational centers had a typology very close to the convent, with the classrooms, on the ground and upper floors, with arches on both floors, located around a cloister.[33]​.

When the maritime expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, in the service of King Charles I of Spain, began its navigation in September 1519 from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with five ships and 265 men, in search of the western route to the Spice Islands, it crossed for the first time from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and driven by the southeastern trade winds it crossed in just over three months from, since then called the Strait of Magellan, to Guam, one of the islands. of the Thieves. When Magellan already envisioned the possibility of reaching China, he died on the Philippine island of Mactán in 1521. After arriving at the Moluccas Islands, the object of the trip, and loading up with the spices, he set out to return to Spain on the ship Victoria under the command of Juan Sebastián Elcano, who instead of returning along the outward route, headed west until arriving successfully, but very decimated, in Spain in September 1522.

This circumnavigation trip of the earth not only provided data on the distances on the earth but also on the riches of the islands of Southeast Asia. The Spanish Crown, with these data, decided to invest its efforts in the Philippines, which, unlike the Moluccas, had been outside the area of ​​Portuguese influence according to the Treaty of Zaragoza of 1529.[34]​.

Captain Miguel López de Legazpi, together with the Augustinian missionary-pilot, discovered and conquered large islands of the Philippine archipelago since 1565 in the name of the king of Spain, with the first expedition leaving from Jalisco (Viceroyalty of New Spain) with 5 ships and 350 men. Advancing in colonization and evangelization in the founding style of the cities of Spanish America, as far as possible, Legazpi, on the island of Luzon, officially founded Manila in 1571. The legislation established in the Laws of the Indies and the systematics, as far as possible, that had been used in the colonization of the American continent were taken into account.

Spanish viceregal architecture in the Philippines had to be specifically adapted to the warm tropical climate of the new Far Eastern territory. Since the round-trip shipping route between Manila Bay and Acapulco on the Pacific coast of New Spain had been known since 1565, Manila would soon become the main Spanish port of trade with Southeast Asia and, especially, China. This America-China connection was carried out through the so-called Manila Galleon. Through these interconnections, Spanish viceregal architecture was transformed into a distinctive Filipino style.

The Bahay Kubo") or "nipa huts" of the indigenous Filipinos which gave way to the Bahay Na Bato (stone house) and other Filipino houses collectively called Bahay Filipino (Filipino houses), became the typical houses of the Filipinos of the time. The Bahay Filipino") houses followed the characteristics of the nipa hut, such as open ventilation and elevated rooms. The most obvious difference between Filipino houses is the materials used to build them. The stone house (Bahay Na Bato) has Spanish and Chinese influence. Its most common appearance is that of the nipa hut on stilts raised on Spanish-style stone blocks or bricks as a foundation rather than just wooden or bamboo stilts, usually with solid stone foundations or brick lower walls, and projecting wooden upper floors with balustrades and sliding capiz shell windows. The roof, of Chinese tiles or sometimes nipa roof which are currently being replaced by galvanized roof. They are called ancestral houses, because most of this type of ancestral houses in the Philippines are Bahay na bato.

Earthquake Baroque is a style of baroque architecture found in the Philippines, and it has been named so because when baroque buildings suffered earthquakes that severely damaged them over the centuries, whether they were large public buildings or churches, they were rebuilt in the Spanish viceregal baroque style itself, although with more robust proportions to resist earthquakes. Thus, the churches "Church (building)") have been rebuilt lower and wider. The side walls have been made thicker and reinforced with buttresses for greater stability during the earthquake. The upper structures have been made with lighter materials.[35]​.

Bell towers are usually lower and more robust compared to towers that may exist in regions of the world with less seismic activity. The towers have a thicker circumference at the lower levels, progressively narrowing to the upper level.[35] In some churches in the Philippines, in addition to functioning as watchtowers against pirates, some bell towers are separated from the main building (exempt) of the church to prevent damage in the event of their fall due to an earthquake.

It is curious that when Manila was destroyed by an earthquake in 1645, almost all the buildings collapsed, except the church of San Agustín (Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción de María de San Agustín) located in Intramuros, Manila. When in 1863 and 1880, Manila was devastated again, the church of San Agustín continued to remain standing, with only one of its towers falling.[35]​.

When Christopher Columbus returned to Spain in 1493 with the news of the supposed discovery of the Indies, he left a fort on the northern coast of the island of Hispaniola, which they called Fort Christmas, in memory of the day the incident with the ship Santa María occurred, which left it in conditions in which it could not navigate. It was built by his men, mainly, with the wood that could be recovered from the boat. He left a garrison of 39 crew members there, with provisions for a year and a boat.[6] It would be the first European building built in America.

Over the course of the next 20 years, Spanish explorers found several Native American cities and towns in the New World, some as large and complex as others in Europe. A cultural clash arose due to the deep cultural and educational gaps between the Spanish in America and the natives, which resulted in acculturation. A cultural change was generated by the contact between such different societies, which finally produced a symbiosis and interdependence between the two cultures, which was already perceived with the Renaissance parameters brought by the Spanish and the different cultures, some still in the Neolithic stage of the native peoples.

However, the peculiar architectural vision of an art that coexisted with Gothic at first persisted, Mudejar art, typical of Spain, which gives greater aesthetic importance to the ornamentation on the structure and windows inside the buildings. And from this mixture with native American art arose a juxtaposition of original artistic forms that were reflected in pure volumes and flat decorations arranged geometrically. Another constant of this Mudejar experience in the New World is described by the architect Chueca Goitia in the extraordinary length of the naves "Nave (architecture)") of the churches, which imposed a distance from the altar, enhancing its sacral sense, as is the case of the cathedrals of Quito or Bogotá.[7]​.

Although Mudejar architecture, in its different manifestations, can be observed in all viceregal architecture, the best works occur in the Andean area,[7]​ highlighting its main feature, the woodwork on roofs, of the so-called white carpentry, whose theoretical foundations are reflected in the theoretical treatises of Diego López de Arenas and Fray Andrés de San Miguel.

One of the characteristics of the Renaissance in Europe, which was transferred to the American continent, referred to the layout and urban planning of cities and the type of buildings that should compose them. However, in Europe, these theories were very difficult to implement because the cities were already built and the foundation of new cities was very scarce, so only very partial remodeling of cities was possible with the construction of new buildings, beautification of existing ones and opening of new spaces. The arrival in America allowed them to make many of these approaches a reality due to the availability of land and the interests of the Castilian Crown in the founding of new cities as a means of controlling the territory and a civilizing fact, along with the construction of fortifications. As Francisco López de Gómara, one of the first historians of the Indies, wrote:

With Columbus's second voyage, between 1493 and 1496, the first colonist settlements were created in Hispaniola. On January 6, 1494, the first Spanish city in America was officially founded, which they called La Isabela, in honor of Queen Isabel of Castile.[6]​.

Practically, from the first moment, the forms of urban planning began to be proposed, first in a vague way, as in the Settlement Instructions dictated by King Ferdinand the Catholic to Pedrarias Dávila in 1513, for the colonization of the territory of Castilla del Oro:.

In more specific provisions such as the Royal Ordinance of Charles I of Spain in 1523, a legal corpus is formed where the hypodamic plan layout of the founding of new cities is regularly configured. This Ordinance establishes:

The model of the city founded by the Spanish colonizers is delimited, which responds to the classic model of regular geometric layout, the so-called hypodamic plan, which was the model that expanded from the Greek poleis, passing through the Roman cities and which would lead, passing through the Renaissance theoretical model, to the pattern that, with variants, would be consolidated in the layout of the Granada city of Santa Fe "Santa Fe (Granada)"), founded by the Catholic Monarchs. in 1491. The kings insisted on making this old temporary Christian camp that was besieging the Nasrid city of Granada a city, of solid construction, as proof that this time it was going to be the place from which the last and definitive assault would be carried out, and the conquest of Granada in 1492, the last Muslim stronghold in the Iberian Peninsula.

The urban layout of Santa Fe approaches orthogonal shapes, at right angles, organized from two longitudinal streets and a transversal one at whose intersection the plaza appears, where civil and ecclesiastical buildings are located. A little later, the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna on the island of Tenerife, founded between 1496 and 1497 by the advance Alonso Fernández de Lugo, followed the "new population" procedures that the Crown of Castile established in the conquest expeditions. This model, in the form of a grid, was experimented in the recently conquered Canary Islands and would also serve as a precedent for the vast majority of the new viceregal cities during the subsequent conquests of the Castilians in America and Asia.[9]​.

However, the idea of ​​laying out a city in the shape of a grid is not exclusive to Europeans. The idea is also found in America, especially in the ancient cities of the Aztecs and Mayans.[10]​.

Starting in 1496, the inhabitants of the city of La Isabela began to leave and emigrate to other parts of the island and in 1500 it had been completely abandoned, and was never inhabited again. The viceregal city of Santo Domingo, today in the Dominican Republic, was founded in 1498, considered the oldest city in the New World still existing and is an excellent archetype of this viceregal urban and architectural style, with its grid streets.

Regarding city planning, successive ordinances had details about the preferred location of a new city and its location in relation to the sea, mountains and rivers. It also detailed the shape and measurements of the central plaza taking into account the spacing for commercial purposes, as well as the spacing for festivals or for the military, which sometimes involved the use of horses. In addition to specifying the location of the church "Church (building)"), the orientation of the roads leading to the main square, or even the width of the streets in relation to climatic conditions. The order in which the city should be built was also specified.[11]​.

In 1510 the city of Nombre de Dios "Name of God (Columbus)") (Panama) was founded; in 1515, Cumaná (Venezuela); in 1519, Havana (Cuba); León (Nicaragua) "León (Nicaragua)") and Granada (Nicaragua) "Granada (Nicaragua)") in 1524; Panama and Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz (Mexico); in 1525, Santa Marta "Santa Marta (Colombia)") (Colombia); in 1531, Guadalajara "Guadalajara (Mexico)") (Mexico); in 1533, Cartagena de Indias (Colombia); in 1534, San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador); in 1535, Lima (Peru); in 1536, Santa María del Buen Aire (Argentina); in 1537, Asunción (Paraguay); in 1538, Santa Fe de Bogotá (Colombia) and Villa de La Plata de la Nueva Toledo (Bolivia); in 1541, Santiago de Chile (Chile) in 1542, Mérida de Yucatán (Mexico) in 1545, Potosí (Bolivia), in 1548, Our Lady of La Paz (Bolivia); in 1548, Mendoza "Mendoza (Argentina)") (Argentina); in 1565, San Agustín de la Florida (United States).[12] Also on the Asian continent, the viceregal city of Intramuros was founded in 1571, today a district of Manila (Philippines).

The impressive foundation of cities, in such a short space of time, was due to the expansion and dynamics of the conquest itself, both from a military point of view (supply, chain of communications, base for future explorations), political (administrative centers), economic (distribution of land, trade) or social (contact between settlers and natives, social and religious indoctrination).[13] Around 1575 the Council of the Indies carried out an inventory and recognition of the domains where the important emigration towards "Las Indias", of around 100,000 Spaniards so far, which facilitated the founding of more than 500 cities in the entire Indian territories.[14] The number of cities founded reached, with reliable documentation, 230 in 1580 and up to 330 cities in 1630, all with stable settlements, and many others without being conveniently documented, so the real number is probably more double.[13]​.

In 1573, Philip II dictated, through the Council of the Indies, the Ordinances of discoveries, new population and pacification of the Indies, which compiled the ordinances and charters that had been issued eighty years before, including those issued by Charles I in 1523. In them, seeking stability and monitoring of his power, the urban planning model was specified and reworked, reflecting the experience existing until then, although it must be taken into account that the Most of the cities had already been erected.[15] They regulate, with Vitrubian and Renaissance inspiration, the model of the "ideal city", the arrangement of the elements that will be found in all the cities of the continent, such as the orthogonal layout of the road network, the width and orientation of the streets according to the climate, the size of the urban blocks, the empty urban block to be used as a municipal square and the location of the main and secondary churches, the construction of the church on the eastern side of the block, because the Catholic rite requires that the altar face east. The location of the squares is also regulated depending on whether the town is coastal or inland, in addition to the corresponding reserves of communal land and others.[16]​.

The first foundations, due to the needs of the moment, were fortified factories, which served as a platform for commercial exchanges and security, and the base on which they launched the exploration of new territories. When the situation was thought to be stabilized, settlements were carried out, in which the order model was imposed. Thus, mainly, due to the urgency in providing shelter to the first Spanish settlers, there were foundations of cities that, at the beginning, did not adjust to the definitive Hippodamic model, such as in La Isabela, the first foundation of Santo Domingo, Caparra "Caparra (Puerto Rico)") (Puerto Rico) in 1508, Sevilla la Nueva (Jamaica) in 1509 or Santa María la Antigua del Darién (Panama) in 1510. In the second founding of Santo Domingo, the grid shape and the location of the main buildings next to the plaza would already be evident.[16]​.

To achieve both an effect of inspiring awe among the indigenous peoples of the Americas, and of creating a legible and militarily manageable landscape, the early settlers used and located the new architecture within planned urban landscapes and complexes dedicated to the missions "Mission (Christianity)"). Many of the cities built were accommodated in already existing centers of the great indigenous civilizations, although almost never taking advantage of their original design. In other cases, their location was established for economic reasons, such as in the case of mining operations, or because they were commercially and militarily strategic, such as in the case of cities with sea ports.[15]​.

The act of founding and settlement was regulated and had to be recorded in a notarial act that included "the allocation of the plots for housing, the layout of streets and squares, the distribution of common lands, farmland and livestock, the constitution of the first council, the fixing of taxes and the Indian encomiendas."[12]​.

The Spanish viceregal city was the basis of the administrative and political life of the territory assigned to the Spanish viceroyalties, and arose, among others, from the need to organize, politically, socially, economically and militarily, the management of the new territories that were being discovered. In them, where appropriate, the headquarters of civil and ecclesiastical organizations were located.

Although it cannot be said that there is a city model that is systematically repeated, at least there are some common characteristics that lead us to consider the way in which the Spanish viceregal cities were built and that the Argentine historian Jorge Enrique Hardoy defined as "classic model of the Hispanic American city." It consists of a geometric layout, in a cord, around a main square, which would be the heart and geometric and symbolic center of the city, and on its perimeter would be the buildings of power such as the viceregal palace or equivalent, town hall, cathedral or equivalent and palace of justice. Festivals and the market were held there. In the streets that surround it, there would be the residences of the main civil and religious officials, such as the conquerors and royal officials and the most important residents of the city.[12] The main businesses are also located around this central area. It also facilitated defense, since by having straight streets towards the city gates, it allowed better surveillance and to go with reinforcements, quickly, to any point where it was necessary.[17]​

The most common parceling is established by means of straight streets that intersect, mainly forming trapezoidal (grid), rectangular (orthogonal grid) or square (grid) blocks. The last case, the most numerous and representative, is what is called "Spanish grid".[18]​ Radiated from the main square, the grids could extend as the settlement grew, prevented only by geography.[19]​.

The Laws of the Indies order "that the plan of the place to be founded always be prepared",[20]​ they specify the layout and propose a settlement pattern based on social position, where people of higher social status live closer to the center of the city, the center of political, ecclesiastical and economic power. The 1790 census for Mexico City indicates that in the central layout, there was indeed a greater concentration of Spaniards, but there was no absolute segregation, racial or class, in the city, especially because elite households generally had non-white servants.[21]​.

The grids were not limited to urban settlements, as Indiano reductions and congregations were created in a similar grid-like manner for the Indians in order to organize these populations into more manageable units for the purposes of taxation, military efficiency, and teaching the Indians the Spanish way of life.

As the modern cities of Spanish America have grown, they have erased or blended the previous standard spatial and social organization of the urban landscape. Elites do not always live closer to the city center and the specific space that citizens occupy is not necessarily determined by their social status. The central plaza, wide streets, and a grid pattern remain common elements in Mexico City and Puebla de los Ángeles. It is not uncommon for cities founded today, especially those in the more remote areas of America, to have preserved the 'checkerboard layout' even to this day.

Mexico City is a good example of how these ordinances were followed when designing the city. Formerly the capital of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan was captured and placed under Spanish rule in 1521. After news of the conquest, the king sent instructions very similar to the aforementioned Ordinance of 1513. In some parts the instructions are almost verbatim to the previous ones, intended to guide the conqueror (Hernán Cortés) on how to lay out the city and how to assign land to the Spanish. It is noted, however, that although the king may have sent many of these orders and instructions to other conquistadors, Cortés was perhaps the first to implement them. He insisted on building a new city where the capital of the Empire had been, and incorporated features of the old square into the new grid. This was accomplished very successfully by being accompanied by men familiar with the royal instructions and the grid system. It is also true that Cortés completed planning and was on track to finish the construction of Mexico City before the royal ordinances directed specifically at him arrived. Men like Cortés and Alonso García Bravo who had the degree of geometer and who had previously built various fortifications, played a crucial role in creating an urban landscape of the cities of the New World as we know them today.

Very early on, from the Settlement Instructions of King Ferdinand the Catholic in 1513 and the Ordinances of King Charles I in 1523, the important role of the main square was highlighted:

Within the urban layout, one of the central blocks was left free of construction so that the main government, administrative and ecclesiastical buildings could be built in its surroundings. The main economic activities take place there, in addition to serving for the weekly market or for holding entertainment and celebrations, such as bullfights. It is a place to see and be seen, especially after mass on Sundays and it is also the place from where the sides, warnings and prohibitions are proclaimed.[12]​.

Also, in the main squares of the most important capitals, large commemorations could take place that were adorned with ephemeral art, such as when to commemorate the Peace of Aigues-Mortes between Charles V of Spain and Francis I of France, great parties were held in the main square of Mexico, also called El Zócalo. The square was embellished with a reproduction of forests, with trees, bushes, flowers and a multitude of birds. Simulations of famous battles were also made that exalted the triumphs. of the Hispanic monarchy.[22]​.

In some cases, the place where the ceremonies of pre-Hispanic civilizations took place was used to raise, structure and construct buildings around the new main square, as in the case where rites typical of the Inca era were carried out, in the city of Cuzco.[23]​.

The main square becomes the basic element of the structuring and generation of the city itself that is organized around it. It is also called the parade ground, because the troops who were on guard formed and exercised there. It is usually considered the most characteristic element of the viceregal city.[15]​.

See also: Spanish Missions in California, Monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl, Franciscan Missions of the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro and Mendicant Monasteries in Mexico.

The bulls Inter caetera imposed as a public duty the "evangelization of the infidels", as the root and foundation of colonization. Missionaries were already included in Columbus's second voyage, who were sent in increasing numbers with this objective. In places with dense indigenous settlements, such as in central Mexico, mendicant orders (Franciscans, Dominicans and Augustinians) built churches, preferably on the sites of pre-Hispanic temples. It was the usual system in the Iberian Peninsula and in other countries, to build churches in places that had previously been pagan.

The new churches and mission complexes sought to maximize their effect in terms of position and dominance of the surrounding buildings or landscape. For this to be possible, they had to be strategically located, either in the center of a city square or at one of the highest points in the landscape. These features are common and can also be found in almost all cities and towns in Spain.

In the early period, there were so many indigenous neophytes attending mass that it could only be done outside the church, so large open-air atriums were built, and open chapels before it. A space within the ecclesiastical complex was walled off to create an expanded sacred space without large construction costs.[24] In the atrium, the posas chapels were located, as a dynamic element in the spatial structuring. It was not only due to lack of covered space, but because the indigenous people were accustomed, in pre-Hispanic religions, to performing ceremonies outdoors. This architectural solution is found throughout Latin America, with those located in Mexico being the richest and most decorated.

Indigenous labor was used in construction, since the sacred place of a community was a symbol and embodiment of that community. Working to create these structures was not necessarily an unwanted burden. Since Mexico experienced many epidemics throughout the century that resulted in a significant decline in the indigenous population in central Mexico, there were often churches built by few Indians, such as the Augustinian church "Temple and ex-convent of San Agustín (Acolman)") in Acolman, Mexico. This church, with a Renaissance repertoire on its façade, with balustraded columns, has been linked to the Spanish Collegiate Church of Santa María la Mayor "Collegiate Church of Santa María la Mayor (Calatayud)") of Calatayud, in the province of Zaragoza.

The different mendicant orders had different styles of construction. The Franciscans built large churches to accommodate the new neophytes, but they were the most sober, the Dominican churches had transepts "Cross (architecture)") and were highly ornamented, while the Augustinian churches, which had not taken a vow of poverty, were characterized by their critics as opulent and sumptuous,[25] and covered their convents with wall paintings.

Mission churches were often simple in design. As the mendicants were expelled from central Mexico and the Jesuits had also begun to evangelize the indigenous people of northern Mexico, mission churches were built as part of a larger mission complex, with housing and workshops for the indigenous residents. Unlike central Mexico, where churches were built in existing indigenous towns, on the border where indigenous people did not live in such settlements, the missionary complex was created.[26]​.

In Central America, churches were built once a city was founded, if possible, where an indigenous town already existed, as is the case of the city of Comayagua in Honduras, which was located in a valley densely populated by natives, similar to the case of the Valley of Mexico. The first churches that the Franciscans built to evangelize the population were the Iglesia de la Merced "Iglesia de la Merced (Comayagua)") of 1550, the Church of San Francisco "Iglesia de San Francisco (Comayagua)") of 1560, and later, in 1631, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Comayagua "Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Comayagua)"). In the rest of America, authorities followed a similar pattern.

The first cathedrals built in America were produced when the metropolis was in the midst of the Renaissance reaction against the Plateresque. The first cathedral on the continent was built in what was the first capital of the Indies, Santo Domingo. Although it seems to have been started in 1521, its consecration was delayed until 1541. Started in late Gothic style, it consists of three naves "Nave (architecture)"), the central one, with a cross vault, ending in a polygonal apse and the lateral ones, narrower, are rectangular.[27]​ The main doorway already has a Renaissance typology, with an accumulation of classical themes. The delicate themes of rosettes appear, stems topped by scrolls, flameros, glasses, and in the frieze puttis linked with scrolls and animals.

It will be at the end of the century when the foundations of the Spanish-American baroque begin to take shape, and it will be the wealth provided, above all, by the mines of Zacatecas (Viceroyalty of New Spain) and Potosí (Viceroyalty of Peru), together with the growing bourgeoisie, the counter-reformation, promoted by the Jesuits, which will allow the American continent to be flooded with baroque architecture, between the centuries and , although we can no longer speak of a single baroque, but of a New Spanish Baroque, a Caribbean Baroque, an Ibero-American Baroque, due to multiethnic cultural differences.

It will be a baroque with its own characteristics, a mix between European and indigenous traditions. Most notable is the taste for exuberant ornamentation. It does not seek chiaroscuro as in European baroque, but is archaizing, flat and colorful, as if it were a tapestry, although it follows the baroque style of horror vacui. The decoration can be of the type of animals and tropical fruits, such as parrots, pineapples or papayas, of the Renaissance type, such as mermaids and masks, of the pre-Hispanic type, such as masks or pumas or other Christian or properly Spanish symbols.[7]​.

However, there are hardly any differences in their plan "Plan (architecture)"). The altarpiece portals), with antecedents in the convent church of San Pablo "Iglesia de San Pablo (Valladolid)") in Valladolid or the baroque façade of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, had great popularity in America. In some way, it aims to announce the main altarpiece inside the church, as if there were an ideal, invisible nave on the outside, as you approach it. And it is adopted, above all, in the New Spain baroque, a new architectural order, the stipe "Estípite (architecture)").[7]​.

Colombia has several colonial cathedrals begun in the 19th century, among which the Tunja Cathedral "Santiago Apóstol Metropolitan Basilica Cathedral (Tunja)" stands out, considered the oldest preserved; the Primate Cathedral of Bogotá, whose first major temple was built in 1539; and those of Santa Marta and Cartagena de Indias "Cathedral of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (Cartagena de Indias)"), built and expanded throughout the colonial centuries. Together, these temples show the architectural evolution of the New Kingdom of Granada, from the initial traces to the baroque and neoclassical transformations.

Mexico has thirty-three cathedrals, the most important, founded in the century, are those of Mérida, Mexico City, Puebla and Guadalajara "Cathedral of Guadalajara (Mexico)"). Of these, in the last three, it continued to be completed in the following two centuries.

The cathedral of Mexico will become the paradigm of viceregal architecture. The architect Francisco Becerra (1545-1605) will build the cathedral of Puebla according to this model, with four towers, then he will go to Cuzco, where he participated in the construction of its cathedral, which was built on the Inca palace of Viracocha and later in Lima, he will build his cathedral, which had begun between 1560 and 1570.[28]​.

Some of the generic characteristics are established in civil architecture that do not always occur at all times and places in America.

Fundamentally, the typology of a palace would be rectangular in plan, with arches on the long sides. The first known palace would be that of Colón, in Santo Domingo, which would later be imitated in Cuernavaca (Mexico) in 1529. The model that would have been used would be the Castilian Palacio de Saldañuela, in Serracín, (Burgos).[27] In the main square of Mexico City, the original civil architecture, now missing, would consist of the palace of Hernán Cortés, with two crenellated towers and the palace of the viceroys, fully crenellated and with a doorway flanked by columns. It is assumed that these shapes should be similar to those of the Palacio de Cortés that can still be seen in Cuernavaca. Furthermore, the first palace in South America would be the Palacio de San Carlos from 1580 in the city of Santa Fe de Bogotá.

The type of housing of wealthy settlers in some cities, during the 19th century, was generally structured around a main patio and a service patio, with arcades on two sides. The walls to the street are closed. When the building consisted of two floors, the lower floor was left for the service and warehouses and the upper floor for the bedrooms and living room. The stately homes had a historiated "Front (architecture)" cover. During the 19th century, the main patios began to have arches on all four sides and the walls to the street opened with shops so that the owner could earn extra income. The façades are still important and openings open to the outside. There may be wooden balconies, which will become one of the characteristics of viceregal civil architecture.[29]​.

The first hospital foundation was the Hospital San Nicolás de Bari, in Santo Domingo, made by Governor Nicolás de Ovando between 1502 and 1509. Until 1519 it had a temporary construction, and it was made permanently in 1533. It would be the first of a series of viceregal hospitals such as in San Juan de Puerto Rico "San Juan (Puerto Rico)"), Havana, Mexico, Panama, Lima, Caracas or Santiago de Chile, among others. They obey the typology established by Enrique Egas, whose most prototypical hospital is the Hospital de los Reyes Católicos, in Santiago de Compostela. There are two large pavilions that intersect orthogonally, and in the transept, a chapel or church to hear mass from the beds.[27] In general, the hospitals derive from the Spanish ones, with a cruciform or T-shaped plan (tau). The transept could be made up of four brick arches. Additionally, there were two or more patios and a building for the most seriously ill. It had separate pavilions for men and women. It could also have a church.[30]​.

The institution of the council was very important in the organization and government of the cities, a fundamental element of the political structures of the viceroyalties. As early as 1517, the colonists could elect their ordinary mayors or presidents in open town councils, where the edicts had to be read and discussed publicly. To do this, it had to be a building that stood out from the others within the main square and its typology had to adapt to such functions, with a space open to that square. Its main room was located on the upper floor, and in front, an arched gallery that overlooked the plaza, supported by an archway on the ground floor.[31]​ It usually contained the prison, archives, and rooms for judges and clerks.

The study centers and universities, very similar to those that existed in Castile and in accordance with the European systems of the time, spread rapidly throughout Spanish America. The convents of the religious orders and the diocesan seminaries were at first the places of teaching. The Franciscans founded in 1533 the Colegio de San Francisco "Temple and ex-convent of San Francisco (Mexico City)") in Mexico City or the Colegio de la Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, the first institution of higher education in America, preparatory for the university, intended for indigenous people. Depending on the category of the city, universities are founded. Soon, the Dominicans, under the protection of their Studium generale, which they had established in their convent of Santo Domingo, managed to have these studies elevated to the rank of university through a papal bull in 1538, following the model of the University of Alcalá "University of Alcalá (historical)").[32] The two important universities, located in the centers of viceregal power, the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, in Lima, which would be the oldest, founded as such, in America, and the University of Mexico, were both founded in 1551, following the models of Salamanca and Alcalá "University of Alcalá (historical)"). Residence halls were also founded, such as the Colegio Mayor de Santa María de Todos Santos, in 1573.

The educational centers had a typology very close to the convent, with the classrooms, on the ground and upper floors, with arches on both floors, located around a cloister.[33]​.

When the maritime expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, in the service of King Charles I of Spain, began its navigation in September 1519 from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with five ships and 265 men, in search of the western route to the Spice Islands, it crossed for the first time from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and driven by the southeastern trade winds it crossed in just over three months from, since then called the Strait of Magellan, to Guam, one of the islands. of the Thieves. When Magellan already envisioned the possibility of reaching China, he died on the Philippine island of Mactán in 1521. After arriving at the Moluccas Islands, the object of the trip, and loading up with the spices, he set out to return to Spain on the ship Victoria under the command of Juan Sebastián Elcano, who instead of returning along the outward route, headed west until arriving successfully, but very decimated, in Spain in September 1522.

This circumnavigation trip of the earth not only provided data on the distances on the earth but also on the riches of the islands of Southeast Asia. The Spanish Crown, with these data, decided to invest its efforts in the Philippines, which, unlike the Moluccas, had been outside the area of ​​Portuguese influence according to the Treaty of Zaragoza of 1529.[34]​.

Captain Miguel López de Legazpi, together with the Augustinian missionary-pilot, discovered and conquered large islands of the Philippine archipelago since 1565 in the name of the king of Spain, with the first expedition leaving from Jalisco (Viceroyalty of New Spain) with 5 ships and 350 men. Advancing in colonization and evangelization in the founding style of the cities of Spanish America, as far as possible, Legazpi, on the island of Luzon, officially founded Manila in 1571. The legislation established in the Laws of the Indies and the systematics, as far as possible, that had been used in the colonization of the American continent were taken into account.

Spanish viceregal architecture in the Philippines had to be specifically adapted to the warm tropical climate of the new Far Eastern territory. Since the round-trip shipping route between Manila Bay and Acapulco on the Pacific coast of New Spain had been known since 1565, Manila would soon become the main Spanish port of trade with Southeast Asia and, especially, China. This America-China connection was carried out through the so-called Manila Galleon. Through these interconnections, Spanish viceregal architecture was transformed into a distinctive Filipino style.

The Bahay Kubo") or "nipa huts" of the indigenous Filipinos which gave way to the Bahay Na Bato (stone house) and other Filipino houses collectively called Bahay Filipino (Filipino houses), became the typical houses of the Filipinos of the time. The Bahay Filipino") houses followed the characteristics of the nipa hut, such as open ventilation and elevated rooms. The most obvious difference between Filipino houses is the materials used to build them. The stone house (Bahay Na Bato) has Spanish and Chinese influence. Its most common appearance is that of the nipa hut on stilts raised on Spanish-style stone blocks or bricks as a foundation rather than just wooden or bamboo stilts, usually with solid stone foundations or brick lower walls, and projecting wooden upper floors with balustrades and sliding capiz shell windows. The roof, of Chinese tiles or sometimes nipa roof which are currently being replaced by galvanized roof. They are called ancestral houses, because most of this type of ancestral houses in the Philippines are Bahay na bato.

Earthquake Baroque is a style of baroque architecture found in the Philippines, and it has been named so because when baroque buildings suffered earthquakes that severely damaged them over the centuries, whether they were large public buildings or churches, they were rebuilt in the Spanish viceregal baroque style itself, although with more robust proportions to resist earthquakes. Thus, the churches "Church (building)") have been rebuilt lower and wider. The side walls have been made thicker and reinforced with buttresses for greater stability during the earthquake. The upper structures have been made with lighter materials.[35]​.

Bell towers are usually lower and more robust compared to towers that may exist in regions of the world with less seismic activity. The towers have a thicker circumference at the lower levels, progressively narrowing to the upper level.[35] In some churches in the Philippines, in addition to functioning as watchtowers against pirates, some bell towers are separated from the main building (exempt) of the church to prevent damage in the event of their fall due to an earthquake.

It is curious that when Manila was destroyed by an earthquake in 1645, almost all the buildings collapsed, except the church of San Agustín (Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción de María de San Agustín) located in Intramuros, Manila. When in 1863 and 1880, Manila was devastated again, the church of San Agustín continued to remain standing, with only one of its towers falling.[35]​.