Joyería Cuencana Museum

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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.

0.10 Km.

San Luis Seminary

The San Luis Seminary, built in Republican style, is another of the emblematic buildings that surround the block of the Central Park or Abdón Calderón de Cuenca (UNESCO World Heritage Site). Also known as Major Seminary or Seminary College, it is a symbol of the influence of the Catholic Church in this city. It is administered by the Curia. In the center of the building there is a beautiful chapel, with reserved access. At present the Seminar’s rooms are mostly occupied by restaurants, cafes and craft shops. There is a Catholic radio station, offices of the Laity Pastoral and training rooms. From its main courtyard, the domes of the New Cathedral have a different, magnificent perspective. The Seminary represents a time of economic boom and important changes of the 19th century. It was the new image that the city assumed, due to the introduction of European models of architecture. The export of toquilla straw hats was booming and with the resources it generated, monumental works like this Seminary were undertaken. Construction began in 1867, under the direction of Mera from the capital city of Quito and the Frenchman Grevilliers. They introduced in its design the traditional portals. The San Luis Seminary occupies a complete block between Bolivar, Benigno Malo, Santa Ana and Padre Aguirre streets. For a long time, the building was the only center of higher education in the city. It was home to educational institutions such as the San Luis School, the only one in its time in Cuenca, to the Borja School and to the Catholic Educational Community. In 2013 this jewel of the region's architecture was on the verge of disappearing, due to a fire. The Ecuadorian state took charge of its restoration. Today, completely restored, it is the center of intense social, cultural, commercial, artisanal and gastronomic activity.

0.17 Km.

Santa Ana Colonial Street

Santa Ana Street, flanked in all its extension by the moles of the New Cathedral and the old Seminary, is the exact point where the city of Cuenca began its development, half a century ago. On the 12th of April 1557, a small group of 30 people, gathered in what was the only street of the place, next to an irrigation channel, solemnly founded the city, which is now a World Cultural Heritage Site. Unfortunately, the memory of the street fell asleep. The space of this one was occupied during decades for other tasks. Abusive characters ended up walled up by means of arbitrary measures and it became the extension of an educational center, during a large part of the 20th century. Fortunately for the history of the city, Santa Ana Street, named after the mother of the Virgin Mary, was rehabilitated for pedestrian traffic. It is a beautiful cobbled passage in the middle of the block, connecting from east to west Benigno Malo Street with Padre Aguirre. For the people of Cuenca, the street is a symbol of identity and of the rich heritage of the city. Reopened in 2017. Since then it has quickly become an important tourist attraction in the Historical Centre. Those who decide to walk through it must do so slowly. This is the only way to capture details such as the stained glass windows, the exposed brick or the sculptures of the New Cathedral on one side; the offers of shops, restaurants, cafes and the architecture of the old Seminary on the other side. During the restoration of the street, two archaeological windows were opened, for the observation of vestiges, like the first drains of the Cathedral or an old well. The latter was converted by the citizens into a "hole of desire". They throw inside it coins of different denominations or letters.

0.18 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.

0.18 Km.

Calderon Park (Central Park) in Cuenca

The Calderon Park, since the foundation of the city four and a half centuries ago, is the heart of Cuenca, the central point of its social, political and religious activities, or a silent witness to its most relevant historical events. It has been called Abdon Calderon Park since 1932, when the cast bronze statue of the "Héroe Niño" was located, which is eternally guarded by the giant Chilean araucarias, planted in 1875 by former president Luis Cordero. Its name evolved with the city, called Plaza Pública at the beginning of this one, then it became Plaza Grande or Mayor, Plaza Principal y de Armas, Plaza Vargas Torres at the beginning of the 20th century. Its benches are a meeting place for retirees, students or all kinds of walkers. It is a working place for photographers, street musicians, craftsmen, shoe shiners, newspaper and magazine sellers. Its gazebo is the stage for various cultural and political events or the secret accomplice of lovers. It is also famous for its portals that offer shelter from the rain or a hot sunny day or the design of its trees and flowers in geometric flower pots. The marble facades of the Palace of Justice and the New Cathedral stand out in the Park. Every year it is the venue for authentic popular festivals. The first established with the Cuenca Foundation is the "Septenario" in the month of June - 7 days of celebration in honour of the Body of Christ or "Corpus Christi" - which is manifested by the sale of sweets in traditional stalls on the paths around the park, fireworks called "castles" and "mad cows" or the raising of hot air balloons. Thousands of citizens gather every night, for 1 week, to watch the show. The second one is known as "El Pase del Niño Viajero", which takes place every December 24th. Center of the power, the Park in its surroundings lodges the main public buildings of political, judicial, religious, cultural and commercial institutions: the Old Cathedral, the house of the Family Ordóñez Mata, the Governor's Office of the province of the Azuay, stores Juan Eljuri, Vatex Galleries, Tosi House, the Old Seminary, the New Cathedral, the House of the Culture, the notaries, the Municipality of Cuenca, the Superior Court of Justice, BanEcuador. In recent years, the Calle Santa Ana, which is part of the original layout of the city, was reopened to tourism.

0.19 Km.

Santa Ana Cathedral of Cuenca

It is said that the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, in Cuenca, Ecuador, is as big as the faith of the “Cuencanos”. It is also called the New Cathedral or simply the Cathedral. It is a catholic temple and the largest building in the city of Cuenca, which is World Cultural Heritage declared by UNESCO. Legend has it that when Bishop Miguel León ordered its construction, at the end of the 19th century, he would have expressed "I want a cathedral as big as the faith of my people". In the city of Cuenca, the third city in development of the Republic of Ecuador after Quito and Guayaquil, the religious fervor of its citizens can still be seen today. In its Historical Center more than 25 churches can be counted, sometimes up to two by each neighborhood, which is why it is also called "the city of the clergymen". The particularity of the presence of two churches in the same block or neighborhood is manifested in the Central Park of the city. In front of the New Cathedral there is the Old Cathedral. From its tower, the Franco-Spanish Geodesic Mission of the 18th century would have made the measurements that led the establishment of “metro” (meter) as a universal measure. The construction of the New Cathedral began in 1885 and ended 90 years later in 1975. It constitutes the great architectural attraction of Ecuador because of its size, at the same level as the Basilica of the National Vote in Quito city. The blueprints of the temple were designed by John Baptist Stiehle. Its two main towers have a characteristic truncated finish and one of the best panoramic views of the city. The cathedral marks the heart of Cuenca city, where 4 UNESCO’s awards coincide: the city’s historic center, the toquilla straw hat or "Panama hat" and the Camino del Inca (Inca Trail), which are World Heritages, plus the vast massif that includes the territory of the city which is a Biosphere Reserve.

0.21 Km.