Excursions in Cuenca - Tour to Athens of Ecuador

Dear travelers, I invite you on excursions to Cuenca, a city that rightfully calls itself the cultural capital of modern Ecuador.

The beauty of Cuenca is recognized as the cultural heritage of mankind and has preserved architecture, traditions and a unique colonial style. Embroidered with a tiled pattern on the bottom of an intermountain bowl with an area of more than 70 square kilometers, the city is considered a decoration of Ecuador and all of South America.

During the tour of Cuenca, we will visit the colonial era and see the ruins of civilizations that preceded the Spanish conquests - the canyari and the Incas. Walk through the streets of Larga, Huayna Capac, and walk through the squares and parks of Calderón, Otorongo, Paraiso and San Sebastian. Built in a valley of four rivers, Santa Ana de los Cuatro Rios de Cuenca will pleasantly surprise you with its cleanliness and comfort, well-developed infrastructure and rich cultural life.

Provincial and at the same time progressive, Cuenca is interesting for the traveler who craves beauty and antiquity. The temples of the city of Cuenca at the same time serve as the centers of the microdistricts of the same name - the parish of St. Francis, St. Alphonse, St. Vlasius ... Built on a high plateau, between majestic mountain peaks in the valley of four rivers flowing into the Amazon, the city of Cuenca escaped devastating natural disasters and hostilities. This allowed him to preserve intact the colonial architectural heritage of the Viceroyalty of Peru, on whose territory it was founded. On our tour you will visit the town of Casa de Posadas. On the former street of innkeepers at the northwestern entrance to the city, then known as Santa Ana de los Cuatro Rios de Cuenca. One-storey buildings of this barrio date from the end of the eighteenth century.

Filigree carved wooden balconies, patterns of painted brass and cobbled streets will give you an idea of what Cuenca was like in antiquity. On our excursion in Cuenca, we will not leave without attention the Calderon Park. Decorated with more than two thousand ornamental plants, the square around which two cathedrals are built - Sagrario and the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is considered the point from which the history of the city began. The Temple of the Immaculate Conception of Cuenca is known as one of the largest existing religious buildings in South America. The interior of the cathedral is decorated with white Carrara marble, and the project is based on the image of the Roman Basilica of St. Peter.

The old temple of Sagrario (Altar) was built in the 16th century from stone, from which the walls of temples and buildings of Tomebamba were built. A city built by the Incas after the conquest of the Canyari people, and destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors during the conquest of the Empire. As part of the tour in Cuenca, we will also see other architectural decorations - the palace of Meria, which was once the Azuai Bank, the Benigno Malo School, the first rector of the University of Cuenca, the House of Chaguarchimban, de Las Palomas, de Los Arcos, Casa Asul and the School of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Within the city boundaries, we will visit the Botanical Garden and the Ruins of Phumapungo. Here you will see the remains of the cities of Gapundelig Canyari culture, Tomebamba culture and the first foundations of the colonial Santa Ana de los Cuatro Rios de Cuenca. Of interest are the ruins of All Saints included in our route, where you can also observe the change of eras. The tour path in Cuenca will not pass the temples named after Saints Francis, Alphonse, Sebastian (also we will visit the eponymous square in front of him), Dominica. Cuenca is a city with over fifty churches. We will visit the churches of St. Zion and the Heart of Christ. The devout population of the cultural capital of Ecuador cares about the religious buildings of various faiths. This allows you to enjoy the beauty and grandeur of the churches of Cuenca.

We will visit Otorongo Square near Cuenca University, the Wado Bridge, leading across the unpredictable and once deadly Tomebamba River, to the historic heart. Our way lies on the famous Calle Larga - a tourist walking center of the city, starting from the Church of All Saints. Here we will go to the workshop-museum of real Panamanian wicker hats. If you wish, you can buy any of the hats you like that made Ecuador famous. In the Huayna Capac forge district, you will see a living example of making local forged iron products. The blacksmith traditions in Cuenca originate from the era of the Incanate. We will also visit the Quinta Bolivar Estate Museum, whose collection is dedicated to the history of the liberation of Latin America from the Spanish crown. In the continuation of our excursion in Cuenca you will visit the city park Paraiso. In Spanish, this word translates as paradise. A landscaped green area for recreation from the bustle of the city with a lagoon in the center justifies its name. You will also visit the Three Bridges.

In conclusion, we will climb to the observation deck of Turi, which will allow you to see the whole of Cuenca from a height of about 150 meters (2700 meters above sea level) and take beautiful pictures.