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Places to visit within 30 km.

Typical Food at San Roque Neighborhood

San Roque, parish of Sucre. Special Area of the World Cultural Heritage of Cuenca. Neighborhood opposite El Vado. It is located on the right bank of the Tomebamba River. Old southern entrance to the city, along Loja Avenue and the ascent of the Barranco. The most important structures of San Roque are its church, dedicated to the devotion to the patron saint and the Virgin of Guadalupe, its square with the monument to General Antonio José de Sucre and the campus of the University of Cuenca. The image of the saint arrived in the 17th century brought by a priest. It was lost and reappeared in the 19th century. Thus the place acquired the name of the miraculous icon. On the bohemian side of this neighborhood, it is known by the name of San Draque. Draque is an alcoholic drink that reminds us of the pirate Drake. In the past, there were cantinas in San Roque. In the basement of their houses, drink smugglers hid the product from the authorities. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was a place full of quintas. Its nature, landscapes and proximity to the river were sources of romantic inspiration for musicians and poets. In Roberto Crespo Ordóñez's country house, the Lyre Festival was created in 1919. It is the setting for popular legends such as "The Headless Priest", "The Widow of the Lantern" and life stories such as that of the character "Paco Bermeo". Gastronomy adds another attraction to the neighbourhood. There are workshops for making Corpus Christi sweets, which are in great demand abroad, as well as cafeterias, barbecues, fast food, vegetarian and Manabitan food. There are 36 places in San Roque and Loja Avenue for traditional and typical food. There is a very special spot on Loja Avenue and Galapagos. There are at least 5 places where you can have and eat snacks among friends: coffee or chocolate with humitas or tamales, bolón de verde and empanada de verde. The most popular is called Aroma de Café.

2.68 Km.

De la Madre (Mother's) Park & Planetarium

Parque de la Madre, a quarry of Ecuadorian sports champions. There you will find the headquarters of the internationally famous "Luis Chocho" Walking School. On its old trails, the walker Jefferson Perez trained towards the first Olympic gold medal of Ecuador in Atlanta 96. The 500 m athletic track, three lanes, paved with special synthetic material, is used every day by dozens of professional and amateur athletes, to train for future competitions. The bicycle path allows alternative mobility. There is a multipurpose court, children's games and green areas to rest. Cuenca honored Jefferson Perez and coach Luis Chocho by erecting monuments to their sporting achievements. The Parque de la Madre, formerly called Parque del Ejército, changed its name in 1966, when its third monument was inaugurated, dedicated to La Madre, a bronze work by artist Paúl Palacio. The Park occupies 36,000 m2 between Florencia Astudillo Avenue, Doce de Abril Avenue and Federico Malo Street. It has two parking lots, one open-air and one underground. Important institutional and heritage infrastructures are built nearby, such as the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Industries, the Todos Santos religious complex, the CIDAP, the staircases, the Military Hospital and the stadium. An essential attraction of the sector is the Planetarium Ciudad de Cuenca. It carries out important educational and scientific dissemination work on the Universe, the stars and the solar system. It has state-of-the-art projection equipment that accurately replicates the position of the stars in the celestial vault. It carries out an agenda of complementary activities related to astronomy, such as conferences, talks, direct observation of the sky or through telescopes, audiovisuals. The capacity of its room is for 100 people. Inclusive space, accessible to people with disabilities.

2.69 Km.

Todos los Santos (All Saints) & Puente Roto (Broken Bridge) Historical Area

The beauty of Todos Santos goes hand in hand with variety. This sector of Cuenca, like no other in the city, merges history, with traditions, archaeology, landscape, architectural development and El Barranco. Walking just one block you can see some landmarks. The first church in Cuenca, a hermitage or chapel, was built in Todos Santos, superimposed on an Inca usno. The present church and convent passed into the hands of the congregation of Oblate nuns at the end of the 19th century. The Calle Larga, one of the oldest streets in the city, crosses the site. It was the Calle de La Ronda. Its scenic viewpoint offers the tourist panoramic views of the modern part of Cuenca and the mountains. A few steps further down are the stone remains of the mills that belonged to the encomendero Rodrigo Nuñez de Bonilla. In the peripheral area of the initial layout, in Todos Santos the Spaniards began to populate the city. Todos Santos and its structures are a fundamental part of the landscape of El Barranco. Its descent, after the El Vado ascent, is the other connection between the Historical Center and the modern city. Next to it is the famous Puente Roto (broken bridge). The flooding of the Tomebamba on November 3, 1950 made the bridge forever the eternal watchtower of the river. This is a very busy and recommended place to look at the landscape, take pictures of the church or simply walk around. The traditional work activity of Todos Santos is the bakeries. There are also museums and handicraft shops.

2.84 Km.

Workshop-Museum of the Toquilla Straw Hat by Paredes Family

The traditional weaving of the Ecuadorian toquilla straw hat is Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity declared by UNESCO since December 5, 2012. In Cuenca there is a Hat Museum, owned by the Paredes-Roldán family, dedicated to the public dissemination of this centennial craft. The Museum opened its doors in 2007. A traditional house of the Tomebamba river’s ravine, with more than a century of antiquity. The house was converted into cultural center, to make known to the world a family tradition for generations: the production and commercialization of the toquilla straw hat. The Paredes Roldán house is also part of the El Vado neighborhood, an important area of handicraft activity in Cuenca. Its Museum tells in detail the history and the present of a craftwork admired in the world. The objective is that the tourist has a first class and pedagogical experience, about the toquilla straw hat in the Southern Region of Ecuador. The Hat Museum is divided into several rooms, which exhibit different collections: tools that were used to make custom hats, recreation of a workshop for arranging hats and what are the steps for the elaboration of a hat (harvesting, processing of the fiber and weaving). All this craft industry is supported by the skillful hands of thousands of Ecuadorian craftsmen and women. In the factory, visitors can appreciate live the making of the hat, from the hand-weaving in a traditional way, the work of the potting machines, the steam presses and the finishing with the making of bands and tafiletes (leather decorative borders). In the sales area, those interested can purchase a finished hat, which can be perfectly adjusted to the different head sizes. There is a great variety of models and designs. The cultural complex also has spaces for events, a cafeteria, a gallery and the terrace with a panoramic view of the Tomebamba river’s ravine and the south of the city.

2.85 Km.

Toquilla Straw Hats at Lazareto District

Lazareto, a community in the Bellavista neighborhood, linked to the history of a leper hospital. It is located in the north of Cuenca, between the hill of Cullca and the Milchichig River. The traditional weaving of the toquilla straw hat, Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, is part of Lazareto's handicraft activity. A family company that exports the garment is based there, with an important monthly production that it sends to 11 countries. The most direct experience for the tourists who come to the place is to enter the houses of the neighbors accompanied by a guide to admire the work of weaving. Weavers acquire the raw material in the Park of Maria Auxiliadora, a very close sector. The techniques are transmitted to the children at home, through observation and imitation. For this neighbourhood, which perpetuates tradition, this is a feature of its identity and a component of its cultural heritage. The toquilla straw hat is made from the fibres of a palm tree that grows on the Ecuadorian coast. The weavers start from the crown and brim of the hat. The duration depends on the quality and fineness. Near Lazareto is the hill of Cullca. Sister elevation to the hill of Turi to the south. Scenic viewpoint of the city from which pictures can be taken. Nearby infrastructures are the Catholic Chapel of the Virgen de Tránsito of the Dominican order, the Catholic University, Zenón Park, Lazareto's courts and a small place called "La Casa del Sombrero" (The House of the Hat) dedicated to the promotion of the toquilla straw hat. Mariano Estrella promoted the construction of a leprocomio in the 19th century. He chose a place in the Milchichig ravine which was estimated to be far from Cuenca. Four Dominican nuns arrived on July 14, 1889, to attend to 50 patients. Today the hospital is called "Mariano Estrella". With the passing of the years the lazaretto disappeared, the city grew and integrated it into its urban development. The nosocomial became the identity of the place.

2.86 Km.

El Prohibido Cultural Center

The Forbidden Cultural Center leaves no one indifferent. It breaks schemes, it cannot be pigeonholed. Located in La Condamine Street, up from El Vado. Since 1996 the place is a reference of the cultural activity in the city of Cuenca. The Moscoso-Íñiguez family is the manager. Martha and Eduardo, with the support of their children, turned their home into an unusual, mysterious and at the same time attractive space. All the alternative cultural manifestations have a space here, from the diverse artistic genres like music, theater, painting, sculpture, cinema, video art, among others. It develops a special agenda for presentations of contemporary rock bands, showing on stage mainly new groups. Dozens of new artists, for example in theatre, have made their debut there. The Museum of Extreme Art of El Prohibido exhibits the artistic creations of Eduardo Moscoso, who makes incursions into the erotic, vitalist, thanatological, exotic, anti-religious and narcissistic styles of the neo-gothic movement and the neo-baroque movement. This is definitely a space in which, with each visit, the observer finds new and surprising details. It is an excellent place to have a cold or hot drink, to taste a good coffee or to have a snack. It has a room for artistic presentations of all genres. After a quarter of a century of opening its doors, El Prohibido continues to give space to the artistic development of the urban cultures of Cuenca and the new generations of local and national artists. It has also been an important actor in the cultural and social development of El Vado. It manages and carries out various open-air activities, promoting the use of public space in the neighbourhood and the city, with the organisation of craftsmen, artists and entrepreneurs.

2.89 Km.