Principal is a town and rural parish in

Chordeleg Canton Chordeleg Canton () is a canton of Ecuador, located in the Azuay Province. Its capital is the town of Chordeleg. Its population at the 2001 census was 10,859. Demographics Ethnic groups as of the Ecuadorian census of 2010: *Mestizo 93.8% *W ...

Azuay Province Azuay (, ), Province of Azuay is a province of Ecuador, created on 25 June 1824. It encompasses an area of . Its capital and largest city is Cuenca. It is located in the south center of Ecuador in the highlands. Its mountains reach above sea le ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. It is located 18 km south of Chordeleg, and 65 km from the city of Cuenca. It was founded as a parish by an Executive Decree on June 12, 1953, under the presidency of

José María Velasco Ibarra José María Velasco Ibarra (19 March 1893 – 30 March 1979) was an Ecuadorian politician. He became president of Ecuador five times, in 1934–1935, 1944–1947, 1952–1956, 1960–1961, and 1968–1972, and only in 1952–1956 he complete ...

Geography

There is a river that runs through the valley in Principal called the Rio Samba Rancho, with local

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

Culture and tourism

Principal is known for its secluded natural environment and artisanal products. Each year in April the town hosts a "''Festival de las Manzanas''" or "''Apple Festival''" to showcase the fruit from the previous season. The event has many different dishes made from apples and festivities in the center of town at the ''"Court''". The women of Principal are frequently seen in their traditional indigenous dress weaving hats while they walk down the street and go about their lives. The guinea pig, locally named "Cuy", is a local delicacy in Ecuador and is served on special occasions in Principal. There are a number of different artisan groups in the town who weave their products and sell them in local stores as well as in fair trade stores in Cuenca.

References

External links

PrincipalLonely Planet
{{coord, 3, 01, 35, S, 78, 45, 05, W, display=title, region:EC_type:city Populated places in Azuay Province