ECUADOR

LOJA

Identity card

  • Population: 170,280
  • Surface area: 5,200 ha
  • Region: Loja
  • Country: Ecuador
  • Contact: (link to member area)
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ARCHITECTURAL AND LANDSCAPE TYPOLOGIES

The historic center of Loja was inscribed on Ecuador’s cultural heritage list on April 15, 1983 by resolution 033-DNPC-03. There are several reasons for this designation:

– One of Ecuador’s oldest colonial cities, it has played an important role in Ecuador’s history, both politically and culturally.

– Its monumental testimony, both in the field of religious and civil architecture, presents characteristics of singular artistic value, surrounded by a landscape of singular beauty, which gives its physiognomy an identity of its own in the urban field.

TYPOLOGY OF TOURISM SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Tourism in Loja is increasingly focused on highlighting its natural attractions, health-related elements and cultural, religious, gastronomic, archaeological and urban attractions.

Natural attractions are spread across the 13 rural parishes and around the town of Loja. One of the main attractions is religious tourism, with the pilgrimage and veneration of the Virgin of El Cisne, and the contemporary architecture of the town of Loja; natural sites such as Podocarpus National Park and the Malacatos Valley; and typical gastronomy such as cecina, bocadillos, quesadillas, humitas or the famous tamal lojano.

HERITAGE AND TOURISM ISSUES

  • High maintenance costs for heritage homes
  • Weak resources of public entities
  • No laws or ordinances
  • Building permit without technical level.

PILOT PROJECT THEME

  • Signposts in the historic center of Loja