Homero Ortega Toquilla Straw Hat Factory

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Nearby attractions

Places to visit within 30 km.

Rotary Square

Cuenca stands out for our variety and quality of handicrafts. Rotary Square is a traditional place where you can buy countless forms of handcrafted items. For many years, Cuencanos have acquired their household items here: furniture, ceramics (flowerpots, vases, crockery), wrought iron (crosses, agricultural tools, plant stands), natural fibers (baskets, fans, etc...).

0.88 Km.

House of the Toquilla Straw Hat

A walk through the workshops and museums of the toquilla straw hat, curiously worldwide known as "Panama Hat", will make you discover that in fact it is original from and elaborated in Ecuador. One of the regions where it is woven is in the Ecuadorian Southern Andes, in the provinces of Azuay and Cañar. On December the 5th, 2012 UNESCO declared the traditional knitting of the toquilla straw hat as Intangible World Heritage. In order to recover the historical memory of this handicraft the Municipal Museum-Workshop “Casa del Sombrero” (House of the Hat) was inaugurated in 2014, in the city of Cuenca. It is located is in an old and emblematic house that functioned as a factory of hats. The initiative is public and free to enter. The elaboration of the hat was the economic foundation of the Ecuadorian population, especially in the south of the country, during the 20th century. Private initiatives also contribute to keep spaces where the story of the Toquilla straw hat is told. The first is the “Hat Museum” of the Paredes Roldán family (Calle Larga and Padre Aguirre, Historic Center, Cuenca, Ecuador). The factory continues operating on the site and the visitor can buy a custom-made hat. The second space is the Museum “La Magia del Sombrero” of the Homero Ortega company (Avenida Gil Ramirez Davalos 3-86, behind the Land Terminal, Cuenca, Ecuador). In 1830 the hats were commercialized in Panama. The Ecuadorian hat gained popularity because of being: resistant, light weighted, foldable for storage, combinable with light summer clothing and because of allowing sweat to evaporate. When the Panama Canal was constructed the workers used it and in 1903 a photograph of the President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt, wearing this hat during a visit to the canal was widely publicized, which gave rise to the name of “Panama hat”. All this history and industry is based on the work of thousands of artisans and weavers who live in the small towns near Cuenca, such as Chordeleg, Gualaceo, Sígsig, Azogues and Biblián. The hat is also known as the “Jipijapa hat” or “Montecristi hat”, towns at the Ecuadorian Pacific coast that were the original centers of its elaboration.

1.06 Km.

Municipal Economuseum "Casa del Sombrero"

The Municipal Economuseum "Casa del Sombrero" has four permanent exhibition rooms where visitors can appreciate the art of weaving the toquilla straw hat through videos, photographic representations, objects and materials used over time for this artisan work , practiced since pre-Columbian times. It has two exhibition rooms and sales of hats and articles made of toquilla straw.

1.06 Km.

La Merced Piazza & Traditional Neighborhood

The Piazza de La Merced is a small esplanade of 1,500 m2. It is the center of an intense social life, especially at night, in the Historical Center of Cuenca, a city declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The square is delimited by the streets Borrero, Honorato Vásquez and Calle Larga. But the neighborhood, of the same name, also keeps a lot of history. The piazza is a space adapted for pedestrians and bicycles. All kinds of cultural, social and artistic activities can be carried out there. It is a space for recreation and meeting of citizens. It has good lighting at night. The piazza preserves several examples of heritage trees, including a poplar and several jacarandas that, when they bloom between September and November, fill it with color. A statue of the priest Julio Maria Matovelle dominates the center of the piazza. This famous priest was a teacher, lawyer, literati, historian, politician and founder of the Congregation of the Oblate Mothers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary. The construction of the small square began around 1850, as did the church. The La Merced neighborhood is traditionally a sector of workers with a strong religious character. However, today the nightlife is intense in La Merced due to the development of activities such as offices, bars, restaurants, discos and hotels. The Remigio Crespo Toral Museum, the La Merced Church, the old house of the Workers Alliance, the Santísima Virgen del Río Chapel, the Julio María Matovelle Educational Unit, and the Abraham Lincoln Cultural Center are all located in the vicinity.

1.18 Km.

Street of Traditional Sweets of Cuenca

The elaboration and consumption of traditional sweets is a very Cuencan custom, inherited from the colony. The cloistered nuns' convents work in this trade and the families of Cuenca buy them as a special gift for relatives and friends. Also known as "Dulces de Corpus Christi". They consist of a variety of sweets that abound during the Septennial celebration in June. The Septenary or the Feast of Corpus Christi is the oldest religious celebration in Cuenca, established with the Foundation of the city. It consists of 7 days of festivities in homage to the Body of Christ. During this time the desired sweets are massively sold in the dozens of stalls that are installed in the Calderon Park. The Septenary or Corpus Christi is under the organization of the Archdiocese of Cuenca, which appoints priostes, one for each day. The priostes cover the expenses of village bands, balloons, castles, and mad cows. In Brother Miguel, in one of the old cells of the Monastery of the Conceptas, adapted to the street for renting, there is a traditional store that sells Corpus Christi sweets all year round. It bears the suggestive name of "El Suspiro". In the same block, in front of this shop, there is another one that also sells sweets all year round: Corpus. These are two examples of the creativity and industriousness of Cuenca's craftsmen and women. Family enterprises of these sweets exist all over the city. They offer the same product. The difference is in the recipes, in the ways of making them. Formulas inherited from generation to generation. The options are countless throughout the Historical Center. With flour, fruits, milk, eggs, coconut and sugar there is how to obtain more than 30 varieties, among them the quesitos, cocadas, sugar fruits, faldiquera eggs, quesadillas, alfajores, nuns, suspiros, handkerchiefs, pucañahuis, kuskingas, roscas, roscones, chocolate guinea pigs... The most economical and popular are the quesitos.

1.31 Km.

Joyería Cuencana Museum

The museum displays materials and tools for the jewelry work. It is located in a cultural heritage property. The craftsman in charge performs live demonstrations of the process as well as allows the visitor to interact and be part of the making process

1.37 Km.