Cuenca

“Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca” (Saint Anne of the Rivers of Cuenca) is located on an Andean Valley on Southern Ecuador (441 km south of Quito), at an elevation of 2.535 m.a.s.l.  It enjoys a typically warm weather, with an average temperature of 17°C.  Its population is of approximately 400.000 inhabitants and its surface area is of 15.730 hectares.

It was founded in 1557 under the command of the Viceroy of Peru, Mr. Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza.  The peculiar features of its soil and the circumstances of later gradual miscegenation printed a unique idiosyncrasy on its inhabitants, who were carving and forging the actual Cuenca over the years: it is the economical and cultural center of a rich area of Ecuador, an Andean and tropical country at the same time, characterized by contrasts and wonders.  Many years before, Cuenca was the Inca city of Tomebamba, considered homeland of Inca Huayna-Cápac, it was built over the place believed to be Guapondelig once, which was a city of the Cañari nation who inhabited the central area of present Ecuador.

Cuenca is also considered as the third city of the country, after Quito and Guayaquil, which are the cities where the political and economical powers of the country are settled.  Its condition of average size city, almost Franciscan and still conventual in comparison with the former cities, is another factor that contributes to have each visitor promising to return or, even better, they decide to stay and live here, since the city has the latest technology concerning information and electronics, a good financial and banking system, cybercafés, bars, discotheques, modern hotel infrastructure, restaurants of all kinds, etc.

On December 1, 1999 the UNESCO decided to include the Historical Center of Cuenca on the list of World Heritage Assets.  It is composed by the following streets: Bolívar, Estévez de Toral, Lamar, Malo, Sangurima, Hermano Miguel, Gran Colombia, Huayna-Cápac, Sucre, Vega and the Bajada de Todos Santos or Calle Larga (All Saints Slope or Long Street), involving an area of 200 hectares.  The latest decades have printed an image of renewal and functionality that contributed significantly to its conservation.  Nevertheless, as part of the development process of the city, and consequently as part of its need of expansion, the former inhabitants of the Historical Center gradually left their place of residence in order to build the surrounding neighborhoods, even along the peripheral areas.  Meanwhile, most of the antique houses which were featured by an architectural style of vernacular cut visibly determined by a French touch from the ends of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries were restored according to the commercial activity of the area, which is always strong and constantly increasing.  The transformation of the Historical Center into a visible space nowadays, with the architectural and city-planning characteristics that define it, occurred specially during the transition time between both centuries soon after the capital flow caused by the export of cascarilla and Panama hats.

Cuenca is also surrounded by wonderful natural sites: mountains, valleys, lakes and rivers are ideal places for all kind of adventure activities, such as tracking, horse riding, mountain bike, climbing, rafting, etc. Just 40 kilometers to the west, there is a fantastic National Park: El Cajas, a glacier origin area with more than 230 crystal water lakes, peculiar geological formations and an incredibly diverse wild life.

Cuenca + Galapagos 8 days