World Heritage Identification Number: 863
World Heritage since: 1999
Category: Cultural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇪🇨 Ecuador
Continent: Americas
UNESCO World Region: Latin America and the Caribbean
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The Historic Centre of Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca: A Well-Preserved Colonial Gem in Ecuador
The Historic Centre of Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca, located in the picturesque Azuay Province of Ecuador, offers a captivating glimpse into the rich history and cultural heritage of this South American nation. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, the city center retains its original colonial layout, showcasing an intriguing blend of indigenous and European architectural styles that have evolved over four centuries.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca is set in a valley surrounded by the Andean mountains in the south of Ecuador. This inland colonial town (entroterra ), now the country's third city, was founded in 1557 on the rigorous planning guidelines issued 30 years earlier by the Spanish king Charles V. Cuenca still observes the formal orthogonal town plan that it has respected for 400 years. One of the region's agricultural and administrative centres, it has been a melting pot for local and immigrant populations. Cuenca's architecture, much of which dates from the 18th century, was 'modernized' in the economic prosperity of the 19th century as the city became a major exporter of quinine, straw hats and other products.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (ii): Cuenca illustrates the successful implantation of the principles of Renaissance urban planning in the Americas. Criterion (iv): The successful fusion of different societies and cultures in Latin America is vividly symbolized by the layout and townscape of Cuenca. Criterion (v): Cuenca is an outstanding example of a planned inland Spanish colonial city.
Encyclopedia Record: Cuenca, Ecuador
Cuenca, officially Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca, is an Ecuadorian city, head of the canton of the same name and capital of the province of Azuay, as well as its largest and most populated city. It is crossed by the Tomebamba, Tarqui, Yanuncay and Machángara rivers, in the south-central inter-Andean region of Ecuador, in the Paute river basin, at an altitude of 2,538 meters above sea level and with a temperate Andean climate averaging 16.3 °C.Additional Site Details
Area: 224.14 hectares
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
(v) — Outstanding example of traditional human settlement
Coordinates: -2.897447 , -79.004382
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