Quito (Otavalo, Otopaxi)
San
Francisco de Quito is the capital
of Ecuador and it is located south of
the Equator, in the Inter Andean valley. Quito
was built in a small basin on the lower slopes
of Pichincha volcano. The altitude
is 9184 feet or 2800 m above sea level, just 25
Km. south of the Equator.
Quito
founded in 1534 by Sebastián de
Benalcázar was the capital of
the Kingdom of Quitu. Hills and
several snowcapped mountains surround the landscapes.
Quito
is the cultural and political administrative capital,
it is a colonial city with colonial churches,
paintings, sculptures, fountains, squares, and
houses built with the Spanish style, however Quito
has also modern architecture.
Important Sights:
In
the main square, Plaza Mayor,
we can find the 17th century cathedral, Government
Palaces, City Hall and the Cultural Center (originally
built by the Jesuits in the XVII Century). Other
interesting places to visit are The Monument on
the Equator (20 minutes from Quito), El Panecillo
that means Little bread (attractive observatory),
El Ejido Park, the nearby valleys as San Rafael,
Tumbaco, Cumbaya, and Guayllabamba (zoo).
Churches:
El
Sagrario (Baroque): This church was originally
the main chapel of the Cathedral, there are stone
columns in the facade of the church (Bernardo
de Legarda´s style).
La
Compañía de Jesus with
the extraordinary facade (lacework on stone),
there are six salomonic columns in the lower part
of the facade of the church. The main altar is
covered with gold leaf.
San
Francisco was built after the Spanish conquest,
the style of the facade is similar to that of
the Escorial in Spain. Inside the church has a
Baroque style.
Convents:
San
Diego has some paintings along the corridors,
dating back to the XVII century.
San
Augustine has a huge collection of paintings
by the artist Miguel de Santiago.
Inside the convent there is a colonial patio carved
from a single block of stone.
Inside
the convent of San Augustine,
there is the Sala Capitular which
is a very important historical site where the
first Act of Independence was signed in 1809.
La
Merced Church and Convent has a stone that is
carved with Neptune, a pagan god. The Lady of
Mercy is carved in the stone on the main altar.
The
Sanctuary of Guápulo is located in a little
village, 10 minutes from the city. The style of
the facade and the dome is neoclassic. The main
altar was painted by Miguel de Santiago.
Museums:
In the San Francisco museum there
is a number of selected works of the Franciscan
collection, also there are some works of Andrés
Sánchez , Miguel de Santiago, etc. There
are some sculptures of the XVII Century.
The
Central Bank Museum has 1417
pieces of Pre-Colonial, Colonial and contemporary
Art, It is located at the Cultural House
(Casa de la Cultura).
The
National Museum of Colonial Art
is located in a XVII Century house of the Marquis
of Villacis. Inside this house there
is a fountain, garden, and some collection of
paintings and sculptures.
The
City Museum (Museo de la Ciudad)
has an exhibition from pre-hispanic times to the
nineteenth century.
The
Guayasamín Museum and
La Capilla del Hombre (Man´s Chapel)
show pre-Columbian, colonial and contemporary
art from the private collections of the Ecuadorian
artist Oswaldo Guayasamín (1919-1999).
Mitad del Mundo: (Quito Equator Line Monument)
The
middle of the world is located
25 minutes from Quito, (25 Km. to the North).
The Latitude marked by the geographers is 0º
00’ 00”. This monument was built in
honor to the imaginary line that divides the earth
into two hemispheres: North and South. This imaginary
line was drawn by the Geodesic mission. In this
place you can visit the Equatorial Museum (Ethnic
Museum), the miniature of Colonial Quito
(colonial model village) and a site with traces
of the Incas (Proyecto Arqueologico Rumicucho).
Otavalo
Otavalo
is a small town with 50,000 inhabitants.
It is situated between the Imbabura volcano
(4,609 meters) and the Cotacachi volcano (4,939
meters).
There
is an Indian market located 100
Km. of Quito. There are wonderful hand made weavings,
tapestry, rugs, bags, woolen goods, hats, Indian
jewelry and more products of the hard working
community of Otavalo Indians; these families work
together. The Otavalo Indian Market
is famous for its textiles woven on blackstrap
and shuttle looms.
Province of Imbabura
The province of Imbabura is a land
of lakes and towering mountains.
Ibarra,
the capital of the province, is a colonial white
city. This town is in the north of Ecuador and
it is lying at the foot of the Imbabura volcano
(45 miles north east of Quito). Every last weekend
of September there is the main festival “Fiesta
de los Lagos”.
There
are some attractions in Imbabura such as: San
Pablo Lake, this is the largest lake in the province,
it is surrounded by inns, restaurants and farms.
Cotacachi
is a village with an artisan´s centre with
a great variety of goods made of leather.
San
Antonio de Ibarra is a small village where wood
carvings are made.
Five
minutes from Ibarra there is the Yahuarcocha
Lake, that means in quechua “The
Lake of Blood”, because years ago there
was a bloody battle among indigenous people.
Cotopaxi National Park
It is located 60 Km south of Quito. It has 36,000
hectares (88,920 acres), surrounded by the highest
active snow capped volcano in the world (19,347ft
above sea level). The most important monument
of this park is The Cotopaxi Volcano.
This is an ecological sanctuary with treeless
vegetation of Andean moorlands or paramo. There
is a Museum, Llamas Station and also there is
the Limpiopungo lagoon, a refuge for Curiquingues
(high plateau birds). There are also wild horses
herds and high plateau bulls. The Pucara
Ruins are a pre-hispanic fortress of the Incas
located in this area. At the foot of Cotopaxi
you will find the Inca Palace, built by Tupac
Yupanqui in the XVth Century.
