House of the Toquilla Straw Hat

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Nearby attractions

Places to visit within 30 km.

Municipal Economuseum "Casa del Sombrero"

The Municipal Economuseum "Casa del Sombrero" has four permanent exhibition rooms where visitors can appreciate the art of weaving the toquilla straw hat through videos, photographic representations, objects and materials used over time for this artisan work , practiced since pre-Columbian times. It has two exhibition rooms and sales of hats and articles made of toquilla straw.

0.02 Km.

Rotary Square

Cuenca stands out for our variety and quality of handicrafts. Rotary Square is a traditional place where you can buy countless forms of handcrafted items. For many years, Cuencanos have acquired their household items here: furniture, ceramics (flowerpots, vases, crockery), wrought iron (crosses, agricultural tools, plant stands), natural fibers (baskets, fans, etc...).

0.54 Km.

Joyería Cuencana Museum

The museum displays materials and tools for the jewelry work. It is located in a cultural heritage property. The craftsman in charge performs live demonstrations of the process as well as allows the visitor to interact and be part of the making process

0.58 Km.

Jewelry Street in Cuenca

Gran Colombia Street is the center of a dynamic commercial, artisan and cultural activity in the city of Cuenca. Known as the "Jewelry Street", it is also home to a museum dedicated to the work of the goldsmiths In a few blocks, you can find shops selling ceramics, clothing, embroidery, leather goods, and crafts in general. The jewel in the crown are the enterprises dedicated to the design, elaboration and commercialization of jewelry. In just two blocks and in a few minutes, it is possible to visit at least 10 jewelry stores with objects of the highest quality made by Cuenca craftsmen. And in the surroundings there are other 10 additional points of sale. To get an overview of this artisan work, one option is to visit the Museo de la Joyería Cuencana. It has a section that recognizes the trajectory of outstanding jewelers of the city. Another section exhibits tools and techniques used by the goldsmiths. In the workshop you can appreciate the process of elaboration of the jewels. The circuit is completed with the exhibition and sale of finished products. The city's jewelers are organized in an Association, which brings together about 50 artisans. In Azuay and Cuenca, the history of jewelry making goes back thousands of years. It is a heritage of the Cañari culture. In the pre-Inca period, the notions of art were established. The Cañari tradition was fused with the knowledge of the precious metals of the Incas. Later, during three centuries, the ancestral practices were mixed with what the Spaniards knew and their methods of extraction and production. The "Calle de las Joyerías" is currently the best showcase to observe the progress and development of this Cuenca craft. Foreign techniques have allowed the industrialization of the processes. The small artisan workshops have adapted to this change. The Great Colombia, named after the ephemeral unit created by Simon Bolivar, must be walked slowly. The objective: to pay attention to details. The architecture of their houses. The options open in their shops. Today it is the backbone of the Cuenca Tramway.

0.62 Km.

La Libertad Lookout Tower & Park

The lookout building of 7 floors and 42 meters high is the main attraction of the Parque de la Libertad, Bellavista neighborhood, north of the city of Cuenca. From its top floor there is a 360 degree view of the city. Inaugurated in November 2018, it has become a very busy place, competing in popularity with the Mirador de Turi, the hill of Cullca or the Parque de la Luz. It has an elevator service and a craft shop. It has an attached platform that also serves as a lookout point. In the basement of this pizzeria and ice cream shop services. There are also spaces for conferences and other activities. The Libertad Park has 1.5 hectares of green area decorated with grass, flowers, small trees, a network of paths, a public swimming pool, street furniture and children's games. The Park was located in the former grounds of the former men's prison of Cuenca and of the Municipality's warehouses. The designation "La Libertad" was due to its opposition to the situation of confinement that the people of the old prison were living in. The prison building was transformed into a citizen service center with a pharmacy, a municipal payment window, bank tellers, a restaurant, a movie theater, an audio room, an internet room, a games and reading room, and public bathrooms.

0.70 Km.

Cloister and Wood-Turning Lathe of El Carmen

The facade of the Cloister and Church of Carmen de La Asunción is one of the most interesting places in the Historical Centre of Cuenca (World Heritage Site by UNESCO), due to the colorful images it generates together with the Flowers’ Market. The order of nuns of El Carmen or "Carmelitas Descalzas" (Barefoot Carmelitas) was established in the city of Cuenca in the year 1682. The Monastery occupies the inside of the block opposite where the New Cathedral stands today. The most representative feature of this cloistered monastery is the wood-turning lathe, which is fitted into a hole in the wall next to the entrance door to the convent. It is used to pass objects from the outside to the inside and vice versa, without the people who give or receive them being seen. In other words, the lathe is an intermediary object between the cloister and the outside world, the means of communication between the contemplative and profane life. A few steps away from the wheel is a picture of the "Lord of Justice", which the Catholic faithful use to ask for divine intervention when they believe that earthly justice has failed them. People come to the wood-turning lathe to ask for spiritual advice. On the lintel of the entrance door to the monastery one can read "This is God's house and the door to heaven". People also go to the wood-turning lathe or to the humble shops next to the entrance of the house, in search of artisan products made by the Carmelites with medicinal plants and flowers, which they cultivate in the gardens of the cloister. They have a natural apothecary's shop. The "agua de pítimas" is the most popular. After drinking it people ask for a "piti más" or a little bit more. Other products are: red, white, blackberry and passion fruit wine, radish syrup, multivitamin syrup, lotion for muscle aches, pigeon jelly, lemon cream, cakes and snacks. The convent houses mural paintings, the most important in Cuenca and one of the most outstanding in America, sculptures and an enormous cliff or birthplace of Jesus. It is an authentic museum of religious art. The Carmelites are in charge of preserving the image of the "Traveler Child ", a sculpture of the newborn Jesus, and they also embroider his clothes by hand. This representation of Jesus Christ as a child presides every year, on December 24th, over the Pase Mayor or "Parade of the Traveler Child". The construction of the Church of Carmen began in 1727. It has a portal with Solomonic columns. It is small, with only one nave.

0.74 Km.