Píllaro (pronounced 'PEE-lyah-ro' or 'Pee-zha-ro') is a city in

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 ...

, located in the province of

Tungurahua Tungurahua (; from Quichua ''tunguri'' (throat) and ''rahua'' (fire), "Throat of Fire")) is an active stratovolcano located in the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador. The volcano gives its name to the province of Tungurahua. Volcanic activity resta ...

. It is the capital of the

Píllaro Canton Píllaro Canton is a canton of Ecuador, located in the Tungurahua Province Tungurahua ( es, Provincia del Tungurahua, literally ''Province of the Tungurahua''; ) is one of the twenty-four provinces of Ecuador. Its capital is Ambato. The provi ...

and stands about 19 km northeast of Ambato, the provincial capital. The city is located on a high Andean plain, at an altitude of 2,800 metres above sea level and has an average temperature of around 13 degrees Celsius. It is an agricultural centre, producing primarily

cereals A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es, and fruit (mainly

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

s). It is also known as a centre for wood-carving.

History

Rumiñahui, the famous Incan military commander, was born in Huaynacuri de Píllaro, around 1482. Son of Huayna Cápac and Nary Ati. Down the maternal line his grandparents were Pillahuaso Ati, Cacique de Píllaro and the Queen Choasanguil. His name means "face of stone". El Congreso Nacional (the National Congress) in 1985, decided that 1 December be remembered as a commemoration of the country's indigenous hero and a defender of the Kingdom of Quito against the Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

s. Píllaro was founded in 1570 by Antonio Clavijo. Píllaro became a separate canton in 1851.''http://www.pillaro.gov.ec/fundacion.aspx'' Foundation of Pillaro 4 August 2009 The town was heavily damaged in the 1949 earthquake that similarly devastated the nearby towns of Ambato and

Pelileo Pelileo (full form, San Pedro de Pelileo) is a city located at the center of the Andean region of Ecuador called ''La Sierra'' ("the highlands"). It is the seat of Pelileo Canton (48,988 inhabitants, 2001 Census), and forms part of Tungurahua Pro ...

Geography

Pillaro is considered a gateway to the

Llanganates National Park Llanganates National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Llanganates, links=no) is a protected area in Ecuador situated in the Cotopaxi Province, Napo Province, Pastaza Province and Tungurahua Province. Located within the park is Cerro Hermoso ("beautiful ...

. This is the site of the legend of the Llangantes. The legends goes that Rumiñahui, on his way to

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Peru ...

to pay off the Spanish conquistadors, hid Incan gold in the park. The gold was supposed to go to Francisco Pizarro to pay the ransom for the kidnapped Incan king,

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa (Quechua), Atabalica, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa (c. 1502 – 26-29 July 1533) was the last Inca Emperor. After defeating his brother, Atahualpa became very briefly the last Sapa Inca (sovereign emperor) of the Inca Empir ...

. Rumiñahui, on learning that his king had been killed, sidetracked to the deserted

páramo Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

of the Llanganates and buried the

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

. Many in Pillaro encourage the story, insisting that the town is full of secrets and legends. Pillaro is divided into 7 districts: *Baquerizo Moreno *Emilio María Terán (Rumipamba) *Marcos Espinel (Chacata) *Presidente Urbina (Chagrapamba) *San Andrés *San José de Poaló *San Miguelito.

References

External links

Municipality of Pillaro (Spanish)
{{Coord, 1, 10, S, 78, 32, W, display=title, region:EC_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places in Tungurahua Province