Introduction

In Cuenca, it's easy to forget you live in the 21st century. The city's cobblestone streets, towering cathedrals, and marble and whitewashed buildings give it a colonial air unequaled in Ecuador. Cuencanos, known for their traditional demeanor and conservative cultural values, match their 18th century surroundings and continue a proud intellectual tradition that has produced more notable writers, poets, artists, and philosophers than anywhere else in Ecuador. In addition to being the cultural Mecca of Ecuador, Cuenca is the capital of the Azuay province, the third largest city in the nation, and the economic center of the southern Sierra. These distinctions, along with the city's incredibly preserved history, recently earned Cuenca the honor of being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Trust site.

History

Cuenca's story begins long before the arrival of the Spanish, or even the Inca. The city was originally a Cañari settlement called Guapondeleg and is believed to have been founded around 500 AD Guapondeleg translates into "land as big as heaven."

The New Cathedral (Catedral de la Inmaculada) dominates the plaza.

Less than half a century before the conquistadors landed, the Inca, after a bitter struggle, conquered the Cañari and occupied Guapondeleg and the surrounding area. Though the Inca replaced the Cañari architecture with their own, they did not exclude the Cañari or their impressive achievements in astronomy and agriculture. These, as was customary for the Inca, they absorbed into their culture.

Shortly after the defeat of the Cañari, the Inca commander, Tupac Yupanqui, ordered the construction of a grand city - Pumapungo, "the door of the Puma" - whose magnificence was to challenge that of the Inca capital of Cuzco. Indians relayed stories to the Spanish chroniclers of golden temples and other such wonders but by the time the Spaniards found the legendary city all that remained were ruins, leaving everyone to wonder what happened to the fabled splendor and riches of the second Inca capital.

After being abandoned by the Cañari and then the Inca, Cuenca was sparsely populated until the 1550's. The Cuenca that exists today was founded in 1557, late considering southern Ecuador's other major city, Loja, was founded in 1548.

Cuenca's population and importance grew steadily during the colonial era and reached the peak of its importance in the first years of Ecuador's independence; it became the capital of one of the three provinces that made up the nascent republic. The other two capitals were Guayaquil and Quito.

Climate

Like the rest of the Ecuadorian Andes, Cuenca enjoys a mild climate year-round. Days are generally warm and nights are cool enough that you should pack a sweater. The average daily temperature is 14.6 C. The rainy season is the same as Quito's and generally lasts from mid-October until early May. During this time, mornings are typically sunny and afternoons cloudy with light, periodic showers.

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