This neighborhood is in the eastern part of the historic center of Cuenca. The first mill in the area was built by the Spaniards, in 1539, using Inca stones and indigenous labor, but, according to historians, many years before the Spanish founded the city there was already commercial activity here. The ruins of the mill can be seen near the Todos Santos Bridge.
A strong feature of the neighborhood is its religious character. In colonial times, a small hermitage was built to honor “San Marcos”, which would eventually become the church of “Todos Santos” – still standing.
In 1884, the Oblate Mothers arrived in the neighborhood, and with them the production of bread expanded to pastries. Since then, the neighborhood has been known for its bakeries, where bread is still baked in traditional wood-fired ovens.
There are several attractions to visit here:
Todos Santos Archaeological Ruins
The archaeological ruins of Todos Santos are located 300 meters from the church, in a small plot of land right on the corner of the streets of Todos Santos and Calle Larga, very close to the ruins of Pumapungo and the Tomebamba River. The remains – belonging to the first mill of Cuenca, built at the beginning of the colonial period by order of the encomendero Don Rodrigo Núñez de Bonilla – were found in 1972, while excavation works were being carried out for the construction of a house. The first piece found was an Inca monolith, and then many followed so a Technical Commission appointed by the Casa de la Cultura was responsible for the analysis and study of all the findings, which proved to belong to the periods of all three Cañari, Inca, and Spanish occupation.
Todos Santos Heritage Complex
The Todos Santos church facilities include the church, the convent, and a school, making it a site of great cultural and historical importance. Because of this, the Oblate Mothers have the intention of restoring and recovering the assets of this congregation so that the citizens can enjoy its beauty and majesty.
Todos Santos Heritage Church
This temple is a structure of great relevance, since a few years before the founding of Cuenca in 1557, the first Spanish settlers built a modest hermitage on this site over an ancient Cañari – and later Inca – worship sanctuary. This religious building “was known as the Ermita del Usno, which later became a chapel that, years later, would in turn become the Todos Santos Temple” (from “A Story Called Todos Santos,” by Cordero).
Todos Santos Cross
Right next to the church, there is one of the four crosses that delimited the colonial Cuenca. After the arrival of the Spaniards, a cross was placed on the outskirts to demarcate the city boundary. It is not known exactly when it was placed there, but we know that the original used to be very close to the current site. In Inca times, the road between Cuenca and Cuzco began where the cross is now.
The cross is made of stone and stands on a stone pedestal with a rooster painted in the center. It contains an allegory depicting a heart with a crown of thorns, a mantle, a spear, a column with a chain that symbolizes the scourging that Jesus underwent before being crucified, and a ladder that represents the Ascension of Christ to the heavens.
Museum of Aboriginal Cultures
The Museum of Aboriginal Cultures specializes in Ecuadorian archeology. Established by the Cordero López family, it is part of the Cordero Cultural Center. Since it first opened in 1992 it has worked for the preservation, dissemination, and protection of Ecuador’s Cultural Heritage.
Traditional bakeries
During colonial times, Todos Santos was the bakers’ town on the outskirts of the city. The old mill and the later arrival of the first hydraulic wheat mill meant that the Spaniards would end up leaving a remarkable bakery legacy in Cuenca.
There are many bakeries in the Todos Santos neighborhood, and in at least two of them – located on Mariano Cueva St., between Honorato Vázquez and Calle Larga – they still bake bread the old-fashioned way: in wood-fired ovens.
Here is one of them:
Panadería Internacional
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