The Todos Santos complex is located in the heart of Cuenca, Ecuador, deep within the Tomebamba River Valley. During the Inca era, Todos Santos served as a center for spiritual celebrations. After the Spanish conquest, Catholicism was imposed on the native population; Catholic mass was celebrated at Todos Santos for the first time in 1540. (...)
The Todos Santos complex is located in the heart of Cuenca, Ecuador, deep within the Tomebamba River Valley. During the Inca era, Todos Santos served as a center for spiritual celebrations. After the Spanish conquest, Catholicism was imposed on the native population; Catholic mass was celebrated at Todos Santos for the first time in 1540. Prosperity came readily to this Andean settlement because of the convergence of four rivers and abundant natural resources in the basin formed by mountains around the city.
The architecture of the church is symbolic of the intertwining of Spanish and local cultures of the region. The façade of Todos Santos features Spanish colonial Gothic motifs but is built with the traditional materials of adobe and bahareque, a pre-Inca construction technique mixing sugar cane, straw, local plants, and clay.
The historic center of Cuenca was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1999, confirming the importance of the ensemble of historic buildings, streetscapes, and cultural patrimony.
