Sunday, June 21, 2009

New Cathedral of Cuenca


After leaving Otavalo, we traveled to Ecuador's third largest city,
Cuenca. Cuenca's most famous attraction is the New Cathedral,
or as it is officially known, Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepcion.
It is the largest cathedral in South America and can seat almost
9000 people! It's three domes are covered with sky-blue tiles,
imported from Czechoslovakia.


There is a block-sized plaza across the street that almost has
a very Mediterranean, or Spanish feel to it...including palm trees
at almost 8000 feet!


As you might be able to tell from this photo, this place is huge. About
as big as anything you might find in Europe.


It's always interesting to see how the Catholic Church has taken the
"pagan" religions of each region it encounters and brings their
traditions into it's own. We've seen many signs of this throughout
Ecuador and Peru.


The only other thing of "Polish descent" in the Cathedral besides me!


Safety, or lack of...never fails to amaze me in Ecuador. No safety rails,
nothing tying this guy onto the scaffold. And this is seen as generally
safe!

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