Uyaguari Familiy&#x27;s Musical Instruments Workshop

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Nearby attractions

Places to visit within 30 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.

0.35 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.

1.03 Km.

House of the Toquilla Straw Hat

A walk through the workshops and museums of the toquilla straw hat, curiously worldwide known as "Panama Hat", will make you discover that in fact it is original from and elaborated in Ecuador. One of the regions where it is woven is in the Ecuadorian Southern Andes, in the provinces of Azuay and Cañar. On December the 5th, 2012 UNESCO declared the traditional knitting of the toquilla straw hat as Intangible World Heritage. In order to recover the historical memory of this handicraft the Municipal Museum-Workshop “Casa del Sombrero” (House of the Hat) was inaugurated in 2014, in the city of Cuenca. It is located is in an old and emblematic house that functioned as a factory of hats. The initiative is public and free to enter. The elaboration of the hat was the economic foundation of the Ecuadorian population, especially in the south of the country, during the 20th century. Private initiatives also contribute to keep spaces where the story of the Toquilla straw hat is told. The first is the “Hat Museum” of the Paredes Roldán family (Calle Larga and Padre Aguirre, Historic Center, Cuenca, Ecuador). The factory continues operating on the site and the visitor can buy a custom-made hat. The second space is the Museum “La Magia del Sombrero” of the Homero Ortega company (Avenida Gil Ramirez Davalos 3-86, behind the Land Terminal, Cuenca, Ecuador). In 1830 the hats were commercialized in Panama. The Ecuadorian hat gained popularity because of being: resistant, light weighted, foldable for storage, combinable with light summer clothing and because of allowing sweat to evaporate. When the Panama Canal was constructed the workers used it and in 1903 a photograph of the President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt, wearing this hat during a visit to the canal was widely publicized, which gave rise to the name of “Panama hat”. All this history and industry is based on the work of thousands of artisans and weavers who live in the small towns near Cuenca, such as Chordeleg, Gualaceo, Sígsig, Azogues and Biblián. The hat is also known as the “Jipijapa hat” or “Montecristi hat”, towns at the Ecuadorian Pacific coast that were the original centers of its elaboration.

1.04 Km.

San Sebastian Church & Square

The church and square of San Sebastian constitute the western limit of the Historical Center of Cuenca (World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO). They are the main points of the historic neighborhood of the same name, in the urban parish of San Sebastian. The San Sebastian neighborhood is traditionally full of popular trades: pottery, tailoring, carpentry, tile-making, buttonhole making, painting. Tourism has a remarkable development with hotels, restaurants and cafeterias installed in heritage houses. The charm of its church, the park and an intense cultural life due to the presence of the Museum of Modern Art are the main attractions. There are craft workshops such as the embossing workshop of the master Carlos Bustos, several craft shops and bakeries. Recently, in a corner of the park, there is a restaurant owned by a Cuenca-Belgian couple that offers beer produced in the town. Every year, on December 24th, the "Pase del Nino Viajero" (The Traveler Baby Jesus), a traditional parade celebrating the birth of Jesus, starts from San Sebastian. The church, on the outside, has a single tower that dominates the facade. This is an unusual feature in religious architecture. Its main door is made of carved wood, with reliefs of the Bible's testaments. A large dome also stands out in the structure of the church. The interior of the Catholic temple is divided into three naves, separated by wooden columns. The space is quite sober, without as much detail or decoration as in other similar buildings in the city of Cuenca. On the corner of a small square in front of the temple's facade, at the intersection of Calle Bolívar and Calle Coronel Tálbot, stands the Cross of San Sebastián. Formerly this cross was the mark of the end of the city and the departure point towards the west. There are news of the church and its corresponding sector since the first years of Cuenca's foundation. It was a hermitage or small church of Fabián and Sebastián, saints and martyrs. As the centuries passed, the name of Fabián was abandoned, leaving San Sebastián as a traditional "Indian parish". Racial and social separation established by the Spanish colonizers to name a place that concentrated humble but necessary trades for daily life. The San Sebastian park is located next to the church. It has an ornamental pool and an interesting variety of trees and plants. The park is ideal for short walks, to rest and breathe fresh air. In its centre is the bust of the poet Miguel Moreno. In front of the park, on the opposite side of the church, is the Museum of Modern Art. Two historical events took place in San Sebastian Park. The first was the murder of the doctor Juan Seniergues, a member of the French Geodesic Mission (a scientific mission to measure Earth’s circumference), in 1739, during a bullfight. The second event are the first football matches in Cuenca, which were played there at the beginning of the 20th century. The geometric layout of the square, which has Renaissance influence with parterre gardens in the Versailles style, is attributed to Octavio Cordero Palacios.

1.11 Km.

San Sebastian Craft Beer Brewery

The beer culture of Belgium has its sanctuary in Cuenca, Ecuador. A small establishment in the San Sebastian Park, is cozy and ideal for a refreshing beer or fast food: "Jodoco Belgian Bistro". The place is the result of a dream. The Ecuadorian-Belgian couple formed by Paola and Carlos arrived in Cuenca in 2012 and set up the tavern. They sell handcrafted beer made by the brand Derijcke Cerveceria following Belgian recipes. The name of the bistro and beer bar is a tribute to Fray Jodoco Ricke, a Franciscan religious of Flemish origin, founder of the Escuela Quiteña de arte. He built the Convent and Church of San Francisco, created the San Andrés School of Arts and Crafts and planted wheat for the first time in South America. He started the first brewery in Latin America. He arrived in Quito in December 1535. The traditional drink of Belgium is beer. Jodoco Bistro, located in a historical and pleasant environment, invites you to discover flavors and atmospheres from the other side of the Atlantic. Its tables are located overlooking the park and the church of San Sebastian. It is a bohemian place, with surprising culinary wonders: the cheese or meat tapas. San Sebastian Square is characterized by its tourist development with the Museum of Modern Art, the Larrazábal Gallery and service places such as restaurants and hotels. It also has a place in the history of Cuenca. In 1739 Jean Seniergues, a doctor from the French Geodesic Mission, was lynched there. In 1820, the patriots of Cuenca who rose up against Spanish rule on November 3rd retreated there. An artisan beer is brewed with its own recipe by a master brewer. That's why it has a different taste to the industrial one. Of limited production, it pays attention to flavors and textures. It does not contain artificial elements, the fermentation is natural and the flavors are the result of the mixture of water, malt, hops and yeast; fruits, spices and herbs can be added. Flavor combinations depend on consumer requirements. It offers quality, diversity and personal attention.

1.14 Km.

Metal Embossing Workshop by Carlos Bustos

The Carlos Bustos Embossing Workshop is located in the urban parish of San Sebastian, just a few steps from the main square of the main historical sector of the city of Cuenca (UNESCO World Heritage Site). In this section of Coronel Tálbot Street it seems that time has stopped. Low houses, made of adobe (a clay-based building material), many of which remind us of the city of yesteryear. In this workshop, with the craft technique of embossing, they work on sheets of different types of soft metals, leather or other ductile raw materials, in order to achieve reproductions of images in relief. Carlos Bustos comes from a family of tinsmith artisans. His father and brother were dedicated to this trade. But he, 40 years ago, decided to go his own way. He was a student of the artist Edgar Carrasco, from whom he learned the basics of art and working with metals. When he gained experience, he decided to open his own workshop. The work begins with drawing what he wants to do. Then with his hands and a lot of care, he uses simple tools to do his job, such as screwdrivers transformed into profilers, hammers, brushes, rollers. An embosser resorts to the technique of the "negative", by means of which, with the forms drawn backwards of the plate of chosen material, that settles on a soft surface and little by little, by means of a progressive deformation of the worked surface, the relief is obtained. Finally, he turns the piece over and outlines the details to define the shapes. Bustos is a tireless creator and owner of infinite patience. In his workshop the most varied objects are exhibited, well decorated: crosses, paintings, masks, lamps, lanterns, candlesticks, animal figures, mirror frames, among others. His favorite materials, because of their low cost, are aluminum, brass and tin. The prices of his embossings vary according to the time it took him to make them and their size. The visitor can ask for a test of skill in this place: to make his own embossing. If you are in a hurry to visit Cuenca, you might miss this charming place. Attention to detail is necessary, as the workshop is small and can go unnoticed between the Museum of Modern Art and the staircase leading down to the Plaza del Otorongo.

1.22 Km.