Cuenca (Banos, Tena)


Cuenca is a colonial city, founded in 1557. Cuenca is the capital of the Azuay province, and it is the third largest city in Ecuador with 7,995 km2 and an altitude of about 2440 m (8000 ft).

Cuenca was declared as World Heritage Trust Site (Cultural Patrimony of Mankind) in 1999. Cuenca has a mild climate year round, during the day it is warm and the nights are cool. The average temperature is 14,6 ºC.

The Cathedrals in Cuenca has towers with sunlit domes, the streets are narrow and made with adobe. The city has wonderful balconies, wending rivers and gardens. Cuenca is known as the marble city due to marble and whitewashed buildings (Cathedral, Government Palaces and two Universities).Cuenca has an intellectual tradition because its notable poets, artists and philosophers.

Surrounding the city, there are four different rivers: Tarqui, Yanuca, Tomebamba and Machángara. When tourists visit Cuenca, they can find high quality handicrafts, like embroidered blouses, wool sweaters, gold and silver filigree jewelry, ceramics and the famous Panama hats.

Important Sights:

Churches:

• The Sagrario church (Old Cathedral) is one of the oldest in Latin- America (1557) with marble floors, and gold leaf altar.
• The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (New Cathedral) made of alabaster and marble, pink marble in the floor.
• Church and Monastery of El Carmen de Asunción with remarkable treasuries of religious art pieces.

Museums:

• The Central Bank Museum shows archaeological objects, colonial and republic art collections, paintings and old photographs of the city.
• Remigio Crespo Toral Museum with a collection of gold objects from the Cañari and Chordeleg cultures. There are pre - Hispanic ceramics, colonial paintings and religious art.

Other places to visit:

• The Ruins of Todos los Santos with remains of Cañari, Incas and Colonial Spanish constructions.
• Gualaceo, it is a town located in a Subtropical Valley close to Cuenca. There are handicrafts (hand woven shawls), leader goods and folklore.
• Parque Nacional Cajas with lagoons, many species of birds, and high land vegetation, located 45 minutes from Cuenca.

Banos

Banos is a small town, located south of Quito on the skirts of the Tungurahua volcano, surrounded by snowcapped volcanoes: Tungurahua (5,061 meters above sea level), Chimborazo (6,310 meters), the Altar (5320 meters), and the Carihuairazo (5,020 meters).

Banos is considered as the entrance to the Amazon jungle (door to the oriental Amazon tropical rain forest). The climate is pleasant with an average temperature all year long of 18 degrees centigrade, and it has an extraordinary landscape. Banos is famous for its hot spring pools such as El Salado, Piscinas de la Virgen, and Santa Ana.

Banos has a small population of about 20,000. There are wonderful places to visit here: Manto de Novia and Machay falls, the Pailon del Diablo (Devil´s Pot, here the rock behind the fall is shaped as the profile of the devil), Mirador de Luna Runtun (63 acres, nestled within the Sangay National Park), Virgen and Ines María falls, and the Pastaza cascade. There is a great diversity of flora and fauna, and a nice Zoo.



Tena

Located 5 hours southeast of Quito. Tena is the capital of the Napo province and it is the commercial center of the province. There is a large population of lowland Quichua Indians, and significant members of Quijos and Chibcha Indians in the area surrounding Tena. The climate in Tena is comfortable, it is dry and cool, due to its elevation.

There are a number of plazas and parks such as The parque Amazonica, a Botanical garden, and zoo, located in a small peninsula between the river Tena and Napo.

Important places to visit are:
The Sumaco volcano located in Sumaco Napo Galeras National Park.
Jatun Sacha Biological Station.
Misahualli (remote port at the juncture of the rivers Napo and Misahualli.
Cuevas de Jumandy (four km north of Archidona on the road to Quito, this is a labyrinth of natural caves and tunnels that extent several kilometers underground.
Archidona a colonial town north of Tena.