South & Central America

Cuenca & Ingapirca

The original city of Cuenca, known as Tomebamba, was built by the Incas as a city to rival the imperial capital of Cusco in its beauty and importance. This may well have been so, but when the Spanish arrived in the 16th Century, the old city lay in ruins and its demise is still a mystery. Cuenca was rebuilt and is a beautiful old colonial city with its cobbled streets and red tiled roofs.  UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site and despite being Ecuador’s third busiest city it also enjoys a delightfully provincial and tranquil atmosphere.

A visit to the colonial town of Cuenca should include Parque Calderon, the plaza lying at the heart of the city and dominated by the old El Sagrario and new Inmaculada Concepcion Cathedrals, the Plaza de las Flores with its daily flower market and the Panama hat factory, just to name a few of the sights.

If one can enjoy the luxury of staying in Cuenca for a few nights, the surrounding area is definitely worth a visit.  There is the Parque Nacional Cajas to the south, famous for its many beautiful lakes, and to the north, located at over 3200 meters, is Ecuador’s most important archaeological site, the Ingapirca Ruins.  The first European to map the ruins was a Frenchman called Charles-Marie de la Condamine who did so in the early 18th Century and deemed the site to be a fortress, but with a small garrison. The principal building and main focus of the complex was the Temple of the Sun, which was important for religious and ceremonial purposes and boasts a number of excellent examples of mortarless stonework for which the Incas were well known. There are a number of less preserved buildings in the complex which are thought to have been store houses.

Our preferred hotels in Cuenca include:

Hotel Mansion Alcazar

Santa Lucia Hotel