Do you love church architecture?

Churches are a conundrum to me. Humans have designed some of the most amazing structures in terms of beauty but ironically one of the least used buildings in society. Yet, churches amaze me all the same. Compared many of the European churches we had seen over the past few years, the churches in Cuenca, Ecuador, were equal in size, but much more humble on the interior. They made up for a lack of ornate art with a splash of pastel colors which gave the churches a much more inviting feeling over the ominous dark corners of European churches.

So, if you like to look at church architecture, you would enjoy a visit to Cuenca. I could name each of these, but I think you will simply enjoy the view.

Close up on the door of the church above. I love wood carvings.

Apparently this church had a structural issue that did not allow the builders to add the two missing spires. I can just imagine how different this might look.

A back view of the same church above. Again, without the spires.

Ingapirca - Incan/Canari Ruins in Ecuador

When we were in Cuenca, we took a daytrip one day to an ancient Incan-Canari ruins. The Canari (pronounced CA-Nya-ree) were an indigenous tribe that was from this region. There are still a few thousands around.

Moon temple/altar with terraces below

They actually rebelled against the Incas when the Incas came to conquer them. Eventually, the Incas won them over by marrying their women to Canari chiefs and the Incas also influenced building and culture in Ingapirca.

Their building stones, which are different from the Canari, can be seen throughout the site. Incan stones were more square and Canari used river rocks with mortar between them. The Incans did share the same Moon and Sun gods with the Canari.

The wind was blowing in our faces, but this was the best pic we got

Although most of the ruins had been destroyed (rocks were found miles away, used in other people's buildings), it has been restored somewhat to the way archaeologists believed the site to look like. From above (although of course we didn't see it from above), it looks like a giant puma with the most important sites as the "head" of the puma.

Giant Incan stones used for building - no mortar was used between the stones.