We are a store located in Otavalo - Ecuador.
Is located about eighty kilometers north of Quito, the capital of Ecuador. It lies at an altitude of about 2,500 meters in the province of Imbabura.
Otavalo is situated in an attractive valley with beautiful surroundings of mountains, lakes and volcanoes. Numerous, small Indian villages make the area very attractive for tourists.
The weaving industry in the Otavalo region has a long history. The Otavaleños have a long tradition as merchants. As a group, they have enjoyed a relatively favorable image in Ecuador which has helped to attract wealth and positive attention.
Otavalo is a mix of history, customs, culture, and folklore. They are a very prosperous community of skilled textile weavers who gather to sell their products at the marketplace, “Plaza de los Ponchos” in the city of Otavalo as they have done for centuries. Some of the most important and sought after products produced by the Otalvaleños are alpaca wool ponchos, alpaca wool sweaters, alpaca blankets, alpaca shawls and wraps, and men wool sweaters.
The textile production in Otavalo dates back to pre-Inca times and survived the Inca-period as well as the Spanish colonial rule. Quite a lot has been written about the weaving industry in Otavalo. This attention is largely due to its ancestral cultural heritage, enriched by millenarian traditions, myths, legends and customs together with Andean landscapes of outstanding beauty: mountains, lakes, waterfalls and rivers that, as per the Otavalo Cosmo-vision, possess life and energy.
THE OTAVALEÑOS OF ECUADOR
The Indians, or indígenas, of this region, are generally known as the Otavaleños, dressed in a poncho, white trousers, sandals, a hat and their long hair in a pony-tail. Otavaleña women traditionally wear distinctive white embroidered blouses, with flared lace sleeves, and black or dark over skirts, with cream or white under skirts. Long hair is tied back with a 3cm band of woven multi colored material, often matching the band which is wound several times round their waists. They usually have many strings of gold beads around their necks, and matching tightly wound long strings of coral beads around each wrist.
The Otavaleños are regarded as one of the most prosperous indigenous groups of Ecuador and form probably one of the most well-known indigenous groups of Latin America. The friendly Otavaleños are proud of their cultural heritage. They are hard-working people who have managed to overcome poverty without changing their way of life, their traditions, or their dress.
Otavaleños speak Quichua, their native language, even though today many also speak, Spanish, English, and even a little French.
THE MARKET “PLAZA DE LOS PONCHOS”
The Saturday market in Otavalo proudly displays many colorful fabrics. The indigenous Otavaleños are famous for weaving textiles usually made of wool, which are sold at the famous Saturday market.
Every Saturday, especially in the months of June, July and August, hundreds of tourists from Europe and the United States, but also from Ecuador and Colombia, come to Otavalo to visit the weekly market. It is felt that a visit to Ecuador is not complete without seeing the Otavalo-market called “Plaza de los Ponchos” which is generally described as "a colorful, real Indian market”. Importers from the United States and Europe come to Otavalo to buy large quantities of ponchos.
ADRESS:
Av. Enrique Garcés s/n y Atahualpa
Otavalo - Ecuador
Phone:
+593 994499111
Hand made shawls Ecuador
Hand made shawls Ecuador