The process
Fibre to hat.
Dr.bb8 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dr.bb8 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dr.bb8 — CC BY-SA 4.0
A factory and museum of the Ortega family, hat-makers for generations, telling the story of the hat known worldwide as the «Panama hat», which is in fact Ecuadorian, woven from the fibres of the toquilla palm that grows on the coast. The hat took Panama's name because it was shipped through Panama to the world in the nineteenth century, and it became famous when worn by workers and visitors at the Panama Canal. In 2012 UNESCO added the weaving of Ecuador's toquilla straw hat to its intangible cultural heritage list. On a short free tour you see each stage: the raw fibre, the fine hand-weaving that can take weeks or months for a top-quality hat, then bleaching, shaping on moulds, ironing and finishing. Unfinished white hats are piled up like heaps of shells. The route ends in a large shop of many shapes and colours, with no obligation to buy. The terrace has a view over the city.
Fibre to hat.
Weeks per hat.
Cuenca views.
North-east of central Cuenca, near the bus terminal
It was shipped through Panama in the nineteenth century and became famous on Panama Canal workers, though it is woven in Ecuador.
