Blue domes
The city's symbol.
Martín Vasco — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Edjoerv — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arabsalam — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Martín Vasco — CC BY-SA 4.0
One of South America's loveliest colonial cities, in a green valley about 2,560 metres up crossed by four rivers, its historic centre listed by UNESCO as World Heritage in 1999. Its cobbled streets run straight on a regular Spanish grid, lined with houses with iron and wooden balconies and tiled roofs. Its heart is Parque Abdón Calderón with its towering trees, overlooked by the gleaming blue domes of the New Cathedral, the city's symbol. Around it, streets are full of cafés, museums and colonial houses, and a small flower market. Cuenca is the capital of the hand-woven straw hat the world knows as the «Panama hat», though it is Ecuadorian in origin, and UNESCO lists its weaving as intangible heritage. In the city's workshops you see how they are made and can buy one. Along the Tomebamba River runs a lovely green promenade beneath houses perched on the bank. The city is calm, fairly safe and great for walking, but the altitude calls for a day of rest.
The city's symbol.
Hand-woven.
By the river.
Around Parque Abdón Calderón, central Cuenca
Because the hats were once shipped via Panama and became popular with Panama Canal workers, so the name stuck, though they are Ecuadorian and Cuenca is a key centre.
