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 Nestled
at the foot of snow-capped Pichincha, a 9,220-foot high volcano,
Ecuador's capital, with its year-round, spring-like climate, rich
history and old colonial town, is one of Latin America's most
beautiful cities.
Named for the peaceful Quitu Indians, Quito was an important Inca city
until the Spanish conquistadors razed it in the late 15th century.
Sebastian de Benalcazar founded the present capital on the ruins of
the Inca city in 1534, building churches, convents and palaces in the
exuberant style of the Latin American baroque.
Quito's old town is so fabulous that in 1978, UNESCO named it a World
Cultural Heritage Site.
Must-see places include the 16th-century Monastery of San Francisco
and the historic alley of La Ronda - the most romantic slice of
colonial Quito.
Home to two universities and numerous concert halls, theaters and
museums, Quito boasts a lively cultural and arts scene. Teatro
Nacional Sucre, the oldest of Quito's cultural hotspots, hosts
concerts by the National Symphony and the spectacular Ballet Folkl—rico.
To the south of Quito stretches the lush Avenue of the Volcanoes,
flanked by two parallel mountain ranges containing nine of Ecuador's
10 highest peaks and some of the countryÕs most spectacular scenery.
The classic excursion from Quito is a short hop north for OtaveloÕs
famous textile market at Poncho Plaza. A maze of colors and textures,
the market dates from pre-Inca times.
A Bit of History
The history of pre-Inca Ecuador is lost in a
misty tangle of time and legend, and the earliest historical details
date back only as far as the 11th century AD. It is commonly believed
that Asian nomads reached the South American continent by about 12,000
BC and were later joined by Polynesian colonizers.
Centuries of tribal expansion, warfare and alliances resulted in the
relatively stable Duchicela lineage, which ruled more or less
peacefully for about 150 years until the arrival of the Incas around
1450 AD.
Despite fierce opposition, the conquering Incas soon held the region,
helped by strong leadership and policies of intermarriage. War over
the inheritance of the new Inca kingdom weakened and divided the
region on the eve of the arrival of the Spanish invaders.
The first Spaniards landed in northern Ecuador
in 1526. Pizarro reached the country in 1532 and spread terror among
the Indians thanks to his conquistadors' horses, armor and weaponry.
The Inca leader, Atahualpa, was ambushed, held for ransom, ÔtriedÕ
and executed, and the Inca empire was effectively demolished. Quito
held out for two years but was eventually razed by AtahualpaÕs
general, Rumi–ahui, rather than be lost intact to the invading
Spaniards. Quito was refounded in December 1534. Today, only one
intact Inca site remains in Ecuador - Ingapirca, to the north of
Cuenca.
There were no major uprisings by the Ecuadorian Indians, though life
was abysmal under Spanish rule.
Spain ruled the colony from Lima, Peru, until 1739, when it was
transferred to the viceroyalty of Colombia. It was largely rural and
conservative, with large estates of introduced cattle and bananas
farmed by forced labor.
As a creole middle class began to emerge, there
were several attempts to liberate Ecuador from Spanish rule.
Independence was finally achieved by Sim—n Bol’var in 1822. Full
constitutional sovereignty was gained in 1830.
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