Ecuador: A Must See Architectural Destination
- Carolina Segarra
- Jun 15, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 27
By Carolina Segarra
English/Spanish
Ecuador is characterized as a country that boasts 22 Cultural Heritage sites, according to UNESCO. Among these is the city of Quito, which was declared the first Cultural Heritage site in Ecuador in 1978 due to its pre-modern architectural presence. Later in 2000, Cuenca was also declared a Cultural Heritage site. The architecture in Ecuador was born out of the colonial era in which materials such as adobe, iron, tile roofs, and ceramic pipes were the emblem of the Ecuadorian architectural style.
The Spanish colonists implemented their architectural style quite swiftly, just one of the many changes implemented on that of the indigenous people. Although a painful imposition for our people, indigenous Ecuadorians possessed a gift for sculpting which was inspired by their faith in the sun and moon. Their skills in sculpting and wood carving inspired the sculpting of religious figures and construction of colonial churches which were imposed by the new man’s religion of Roman Catholicism. This architecture of Gothic and Baroque style marked a significant period of religious art while the Neoclassical and Renaissance style began to influence the architecture of Ecuador as well.
