![Otavalo Imbabura nina urkuwan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Otavalo_Imbabura_nina_urkuwan.jpg)
Otavalo, capital of
Otavalo Canton
Otavalo Canton is a canton of Ecuador, located in Imbabura Province. Its capital is the city of Otavalo. The Canton's population in the 2010 census was 104,874 compared to 90,188 in the 2001 census. Its area is . Indigenous people, especially ...
, has a population largely made up of the
Otavalo indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
group. It is located in
Imbabura Province
Imbabura () is a province located in the Andes of northern Ecuador. The capital is Ibarra. The people of the province speak Spanish, and a large portion of the population also speaks the Imbaburan Kichwa variety of the Quechua language.
The s ...
of
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
. According to the 2010 census, the town has 39,354 inhabitants and has an elevation of . It is surrounded by the peaks of
Imbabura (),
Cotacachi (), and
Mojanda
Mojanda is an inactive stratovolcano of the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes in northern Ecuador. A summit caldera, which was produced by an explosive Plinian Eruption that marked the end of Mojanda activity 200,000 years ago, is occupied b ...
volcanoes. Mario Conejo is the current mayor of the city of Otavalo.
![Otavalo Artisan Market - Andes Mountains - South America - photograph 007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Otavalo_Artisan_Market_-_Andes_Mountains_-_South_America_-_photograph_007.JPG)
.
The market
The indigenous
Otavalo people
The Otavalos are an indigenous people native to the Andean mountains of Imbabura Province in northern Ecuador. The Otavalos also inhabit the city of Otavalo in that province. Commerce and handcrafts are among the principal economic activities of ...
are famous for weaving
textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
s, usually made of wool, which are sold at the famous Saturday market. Although the largest market is on Saturday, there is a very wide range of wares available throughout the week in the ''Plaza de los Ponchos'', and the many local shops. The shops sell textiles such as handmade blankets, tablecloths, and much more.
The Otavalo market consists of mushroom-shaped concrete umbrellas with benches. The market was designed and built in 1970 by Dutch architect
Tonny Zwollo
Tonny Zwollo (born 1942) is a Dutch architect who has worked since 1964 in the Americas. In addition to designing and building over 35 schools in Mexico, she designed the largest indigenous market in South America, in Otavalo, Ecuador. Her approa ...
.
During the market's peak, almost one third of the town becomes full of stalls selling textiles, tagua nut jewelry, musical instruments, dream catchers, leather goods, fake shrunken heads, indigenous costumes, hand-painted platters and trays, purses, clothing, spices, raw foods and spools of wool. As the city has become more of a tourist attraction, many of the goods sold in the markets are mass-produced in nearby factories and sold in the market by middle-men. More artisan products can be purchased in neighboring communities or at the Museo Viviente Otavalango.
Otavalo was an area made up principally of farming communities due to the rich volcanic soils in this area, but with the growth of
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
, the town has begun to focus more on the making of handicrafts which have made the Saturday market a popular stop with
visitors to Ecuador. Tourism has become the town's main industry and as a result there are many more
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
s,
hostel
A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...
s, and
tour operator
A tour operator is a business that typically combines and organizes accommodations, meals, sightseeing and transportation components, in order to create a package tour. They advertise and produce brochures to promote their products, holidays and ...
s than other similarly sized Ecuadorian towns, such as nearby
Cayambe. Further, Otavaleño (people from Otavalo) have had notable success selling their goods abroad.
As Otavalo is famous for its
textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
s, many of the nearby villages and towns are famous for their own particular crafts.
Cotacachi, for example, is the center of Ecuador's
leather
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...
industry. In
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, s ...
, where the local specialty is
wood carving
Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...
, the main street prominently displays carved statues, picture frames, and furniture.
Attractions
Many people come to Otavalo to visit the market, but the city and surrounding area is also home to the Peguche Waterfall, Lagos de Mojanda, and Museo Viviente Otavalango. The museum is located in the "antigua fabrica San Pedro," where indigenous Otavaleños worked in sweatshop style labor for generations under brutal conditions. After the factory was shut down, a group of locals purchased the land and have since reclaimed the factory and its grounds as a living museum and community space for the indigenous community. The museum shows aspects of Otavaleño life both historically and in present day, and allows visitors to interact with the indigenous craftspeople making textiles and farming. The museum also serves as a community space, with concerts, weddings, and community meetings held in buildings on the grounds. In addition, a short taxi ride or hike from town you will find Parque Condor, a bird rescue centre and educational facility. Aiming to educate locals and tourists about the conservation of wild birds, they offer a daily flight display to view some of the birds in flight.
Traditional clothing
Otavaleña women traditionally wear distinctive white embroidered blouses, with flared lace sleeves, and black or dark over skirts, with cream or white under skirts. Long hair is tied back with a 30 cm band of woven multi coloured material, often matching the band which is wound several times round their waists. They usually have many strings of gold beads around their necks, with the number of strands and thickness of beads representing their age and wisdom, and matching tightly wound long strings of coral beads around each wrist. Men wear white trousers, and dark blue ponchos.
Music
Otavalo is also known for its traditional music and musicians. Every summer the music of Otavalo, and the surrounding areas, plays a primary role in the indigenous festival for the summer solstice, called
Inti Raymi
The Inti Raymi (Quechua for "Inti festival") is a traditional religious ceremony of the Inca Empire in honor of the god Inti (Quechua for "sun"), the most venerated deity in Inca religion. It was the celebration of the winter solstice – the s ...
. There are many musical groups currently traveling around the world promoting their music (sometimes known as
Andean New Age
Andean new-age music is a fusion genre of new-age music with Peruvian flute and/or Paraguayan harp music. The Peruvian roots stem from the Inca (Inka) influence circa 1200–1532 CE. In Peru, two important flutes are used: The ''quena'', a flute ...
). This style of music has had notable commercial success worldwide.
Architecture
Otavalo is very famous for its market but it has to offer various sightworthy buildings as well.
''Parque Bolívar'', a well-kept park, is the central square of Otavalo. Sometimes it is called ''Parque Central'' as well. It is surrounded by a very representative City Hall (''Edificio Municipal'') and by a catholic church, Iglesia de San Luís, with an octagonal clocktower. The church was originally built 1676–79 with just one nave, but it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1868 and rebuilt 1880–1890 in a
renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
style with three naves and an
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
. In the interior there are many pieces of art and a
baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
altar dating from 1869.
Iglesia El Jordán is another remarkable church with three naves which was built in 1775 and heavily damaged by earthquakes in 1868 and in 1906. Reconstruction was not started before 1925 and was interrupted several times. In 1964 the reconstruction in a renaissance and Greek style was completed. The façade and the two clocktowers have several columns with Corinthian
capitals.
The railway station is in the southern part of the town center behind Copacabana Market, 2,532 metres (8,307 ft) above sea level. The station was renovated when the railway line (27 km) from Otavalo to Ibarra which had been closed down about 1980 was reinaugurated for tourist purposes in 2015.
Travelling by train from Otavalo to Ibarra has become an important tourist attraction.
Gallery
City hall of Otavalo 01.jpg, City hall of Otavalo
Livestock market, Otavalo 01.jpg, Livestock market of Otavalo
Iglesia San Luis, Otavalo 01.jpg, Iglesia San Luis
File:Otavalo Ecuador665.jpg, Parque Central
File:Iglesia El Jordán, Otavalo 01.jpg, Iglesia El Jordán
File:Ama la Vida - Flickr - Recorrido ministra SM por provincia de Imbabura 29-07-2014 (11) (14786414392).jpg, Railway Station
Image:Panorama otavalo ecuador.jpg, Otavalo as seen from the east
References
External links
Guide to Otavalo from Go South America
en otavalo se escucha www.cuellajeradio.weebly.com
{{Authority control
Populated places in Imbabura Province