Diego Maroto

Fray Diego Maroto (7/5/1618 Camarena, Toledo (Spain)–1696) was the most important Peruvian architect of the second half of the 17th century.

The round cloister at Colegio de Santo Tomás in Lima, Peru

Maroto born in Camarena, Spain, he 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 the Metropolitan cathedral. His most important work was the College of Saint Thomas (Colegio de Santo Tomás). The major cloister of the school is the only round cloister in South America.