Cuenca & the Southern Highlands - Adventure Guide to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands - page 208

City Stroll
No trip to Cuenca is complete without wandering among the cobble-
stone streets and enjoying the beauty of the colonial architecture.
Cuenca is a small big city, developed in a traditional Spanish square-
grid pattern. The long, narrow streets run primarily north-south and
east-west, and are closed in by the tall walls of colonial buildings.
Wandering around, it's quite easy to become disoriented without a
landmark as a point of reference. Relax and continue meandering;
you can easily reorient yourself with amap and a cross-street. The ar-
chitecture is fabulous, the culture is rich, and the churches are im-
pressive to the point of being overwhelming. Grab a seat on a bench at
the Parque Calderón, the main plaza downtown, and watch the world
go by.
Myriad other churches and cathedrals, architectural and decorative
testimonies of splendor, line the streets of Cuenca andmany are quite
fascinating. Each provides another affirmation of the undying faith of
the people.
Parque Calderón
The streets of Simón Bolívar, Sucre, Benigno Malo and Luis Cordero
surround Parque Calderón, which is themain plaza. Nestled between
the old church and the massive new cathedral, the plaza is where it
all seems to come together, both as a landmark and as a focal point for
local activity. As community space is important throughout Ecuador
and Latin America in general, plazas tend to lie adjacent to the other
major facet of local communities - the churches. And the enormous
new cathedral, along the western edge of the plaza, resonates with
the faith of the locals.
Plaza Civica
A fewblocks to the northeast, atMariano Cueva andMariscal Lamar,
is another plaza and daily market. The Civic Plaza market offers
household supplies and daily goods, catering more to the locals but
it's worth a glance. There are a couple of hotels near here.