For most visitors to Ecuador, Ibarra - the provincial capital of Imbabura - is a stopover en route to somewhere else. Notably, it used to be the starting point of the antiquated, single-track railway that plunged down the slopes of the Andes to the coastal town of San Lorenzo. The town is also a transit stop on the Pan-American Highway on the way to or from Colombia.

But Ibarra is more than a transport hub. Known as the White City, it's a handsome, old-fashioned town of white-walled colonial buildings and peaceful squares filled with flowering trees. The odd horse-drawn carts still clomp along cobbled streets. Its altitude of 2,210 m [7,366 ft] gives the city a refreshing, comfortable climate and its population of nearly 100,000 creates enough activity without making it too busy. It might not be a great cultural or entertainment centre, but Ibarra is a pleasant place to enjoy the slow paced, everyday pleasures of Ecuadorean life, with several sights nearby to keep one busy.

Background

San Antonio de Ibarra, the city's full name, was founded in 1606 and was named after Miguel de Ibarra, then-President of Quito's Royal Audencia. In its early days it became the administrative centre of the exploitative textile industry. In spite of a massive earthquake in 1868, which killed most of its 6,000 inhabitants and destroyed many of its buildings, Ibarra has retained or rebuilt many of its fine colonial houses. The growing town gradually became, and still is, the main market for the region's agricultural products, such as cotton, sugar cane, coffee, cereals and livestock. It remains a centre for textiles and silverware and has a large sugar refinery. Ibarra's population is a mixture of indigenas, blacks and mestizos.

Last updated 14th July 2006

|Article contributed by Dominic Hamilton|||

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