Ecuador's colonial crown jewel — cobblestones, cathedral domes, and highland flavours that put the capital to shame
Cuenca is the third-largest city in Ecuador and, by general consensus, the most beautiful — a UNESCO World Heritage Centre of cream-and-blue cathedral spires, cobblestone streets, Moorish-tiled mansions, and flower-filled plazas set at 2,550 metres in the Andes. The food culture is highland Ecuadorian at its most honest: mote (giant hominy corn), hornado (whole-roasted pork carved at weekend markets), cuy (guinea pig, grilled over open coals), caldo de gallina criolla (free-range hen soup), and tigrillo (mashed plantain with egg and cheese, the working breakfast of the southern sierra). The w…
Cuenca was founded as Santa Ana de los Cuatro Ríos de Cuenca by the Spanish in 1557 on the ruins of Tomebamba — the second-most-important city in the Inca Empire (the northern co-capital, matching Cusco in the south), built by Huayna Capac in the early 16th century. Before the Inca, the region was home to the Cañari people, whose astronomical knowledge and weaving skills survived the conquest. The Spanish grid plan overlaid the Inca and Cañari urban fabric; archaeologists continue to uncover Inca stonework beneath the colonial centre. Cuenca was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.