History of Otavalo

Today, we ate at a restaurant that had some great historical photos on the wall (pink background), which made me think it might be a good idea to provide some background info on the history of Otavalo (where I am currently staying and where the Plaza de Ponchos is located).




San Luis de Otavalo, commonly called Otavalo, is located in the Imbabura Valley of the Andes Mountains, which run down the center of Ecuador. Otavalo is located north of Quito, the capital, and close to the Colombian border. As of 2001, the town of San Luis de Otavalo had a population of approximately 26,000 (Meisch 2002:10); according to Ecuador’s 2010 census, the cantón of Otavalo has a population of 104,874, which includes a larger area than simply the town of Otavalo (Instituto 2010). There are several small communities in the Imbabura Valley, all populated by indigenous people (in addition to mestizos, or people of mixed race, and whites) known as the Otavalo. Despite the different names of the communities, all these indigenous or indígenas (the word is feminine in Spanish) people self-identify as Otavalans, Otavalos, or Otavaleños.


Cristina shared with me this super cool video with footage of Otavalo from 1948. © Universidad de Pennsylvania Museum

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