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Ecuadorian NYC

Ecuadorian NYC is centered in Corona and Jackson Heights, Queens.

Ecuadorian Archive

Ecuadorian Festivals NYC

NYC’s big Ecuadorian celebrations are the Ecuadorian Parade, Ecuadorian Festival, and May Sumak film festival.

Ecuadorian New York City

Ecuadorian New York City is centered in Corona and Jackson Heights, Queens. There are also communities in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Fordham, The Bronx, and East Newark, New Jersey. We are one of New York City’s five largest Latin communities.

Ecuadorian New Yorkers

Ecuadorian Culture

Indigenous culture remains strong in Ecuador. In addition to Spanish, Quechua (the old Inca language), Shuar (an Amazonian language) and other Indigenous languages are recognized official languages. The coast also has Afro-Ecuadorian culture.

The modern country is the northern part of the Inca Empire so the mountains share Andean culture with southern Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and parts of Chile and Argentina. These regions are connected by the old Inca road system.

Ecuador’s northernmost province is Esmeraldas. That’s Spanish for emeralds. The legendary Atahualpa Emerald which belonged to the last Inca emperor, is in the Crown of the Andes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Panama hats actually come from Ecuador.

Several Ecuadorian culture forms are recognized by UNESCO as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity.

  • Zápara language and culture are an Indigenous language that speaks with the sounds of the forest, and a culture with deep knowledge of plants and the ways of the land.
  • Traditional Ecuadorian toquilla straw hat production is a coastal culture of palm farming and weaving what is better known as the Panama Hat.
  • The Marimba music, chanting and dancing of the Esmeraldas Province is an Ecuadorian recreation of a Central African faith and family tradition.

Visit Ecuador

Ecuador has something for everyone. There are the Galapagos Islands, the Pacific coast, Andes mountains, and Amazon jungle. There are even active volcanoes.

It’s a beautiful land. The country is the home of several UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Ecuadorian colonial architecture is a blend of Indigenous and Spanish Baroque styles, built by Indigenous artists. The style is called “Escuela Quiteña” or Baroque School of Quito. It’s known for harmonizing with nature. Traditional Spanish architecture is tuned to the land, but Escuela Quitena takes it to another level. It really is Indigenous Baroque.

  • Galápagos Islands are famously biodiverse Pacific islands.
  • Qhapaq Ñan is the old Andean Road System that runs along the Andes from Colombia to Chile.
  • Quito, the capital, was founded in 1534 in an abandoned Inca city.
  • Sangay National Park is an undisturbed natural area in the middle of the Ecuadorian Andes.
  • Cuenca is a colonial town founded in 1577 built around an Indigenous community that was modernized in the 1800s.

Quito

The Ecuadorian capital was founded on the ruins of an Inca city high in the Andes. It’s among the best preserved colonial cities in Latin America. Soccer teams from other countries struggle to play there because of the high altitude.

San Francisco Church on the main square in Quito, Ecuador (Pablo Borca/Dreamstime)
San Francisco Church on the main square in Quito, Ecuador (Pablo Borca/Dreamstime)

The San Francisco Church (La Iglesia de San Francisco) is a stunning example of Escuela Quiteña architecture.

San Franciso Church interior, Quito (Brizardh/Dreamstime)
San Franciso Church nave, Quito (Brizardh/Dreamstime)
San Francisco Church crossing, Quito (Mfmegevand/Dreamstime)
San Francisco Church crossing, Quito (Mfmegevand/Dreamstime)

There is much more to see in Ecuador.

Celebrations in Ecuador

South American NYC

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