Ruins of Todos los Santos

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting the archeological ruins of Todos los Santos, located in the heart of the City of Cuenca.  The visit was not planned.  At 10:00am I attended a meeting of the Culture Exchange Council (CEC). The CEC is affiliated with The University of Cuenca.  Twice a month members meet with small groups of University students to teach them English.  The purpose of the meeting was to meet the new leadership, for the semester, and to briefly discuss the schedule of when we are needed to teach.  Serving on the CEC is a volunteer position.  This will be my second semester on the Council.  A friend of mine, Jaci, also serves on the CEC.  We were walking together after the meeting and just stuck our heads inside the museum to see what was there.  Immediately, a worker asked that we sign the guest book.  We told her we were just looking and that we would come back another day.  She would have none of that.  She insisted that we tour the ruins at that moment.  We could see that she was not taking "NO" for an answer so we followed her to the gate. I am so glad we did.  

The ruins are archeological remains that were discovered during excavation work for the construction of a house.  The discovery was made in November, 1972.  The ruins are unique in that there is evidence of the presence of Canaris, Incas, and Spaniards in the same space.  You can see a system of aquaducts, limestone walls, and a mill. The mill was used to process grains such as corn and barley that grew in the area.  During excavation, more than twenty thousand fragments and whole pieces of ceramic, stone, and metal were rescued.  These finds are housed in the nearby museum which is an old colonial house from the Spanish occupation.  

Here are the pictures of "Todos los Santos."

This graffiti was on the wall of a nearby building.  I thought it was cool.

Walking home we saw this funny car parked on the street.  Notice the curtains in the windows.

Off to the next adventure!