A Visit to a special church in Ecuador

The Church in the Hill

The Valley the church protects.

The graveyard below the Church

John resting before the climb up to the Church

It was built right into the side of this hill

John and Marti at the second resting spot on the climb up to the church

See the beautiful view behind John and Marti

We arrived and entered the church – this is a little gratto for the Blessid Virgin Mary

This realy shows how the church was built right into the wall of this hill

The church was not very wide but it was long

Looking up to the center of the steeple

One of the long sides of the church

see the beauty of the church

As I have said it was built into the side of the hill

another view of the valley as seen from the church

the steeple of the church from the outside

The View of the Protected Valley

Marti just outside the church

Ops another photo of Marti, I will put on my glasses now – I thought it was me. Ha Ha

Today we are going on a full day of sightseeing. We are planning to see the Inca ruins here in Ecuador. This may be a special day as we will not be buying any more items for the family or Marti and with the one dollar coin purse as my memento of this special vacation trip how could I ask for more. My life is wonderful. Our driver along with our guide picked us up at 8:00 am and at that time we met Vickie and Doug from Chicago. They along with a young student from Germany would be the total touring group. What luck, Vickie and Doug are very pleasant people and easy to talk with. Our student is also pleasant and very happy to be enjoying this tour with all of us. Tour groups can be very difficult sometimes all it takes is just one person in the group to spoil the tour. No one spoiled this tour group of people.
Away we went driving out of Cuenca heading to the Inca ruins. Along the way we stopped at a church. My sister Mary Anne and Marti’s mother Gloria should appreciate this story. It seems that the people in this area of Ecuador were suffering a severe drought. Crops were failing, animals were dying, and some people started to move outside the area. At that time the remaining people went up to the side of a mountain overlooking the area and started to pray to the Virgin Mary. During their prayers to the Virgin it started to rain. When the people saw this they choose to build a church on the spot where they were praying. This is why the church was built high on the mountain to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary.
After walking up over two hundred steps at an altitude of close to twelve thousand feet I was able to see inside the church. The simplistic beauty of the church was overwhelming. I could tell that each person was not only struck by both the use of the mountain and the addition of the church to thank and honor the Blessed Virgin Mary that they became quiet in their own thoughts. I was still trying to catch my breath but once my heart returned to normal I was able to enjoy the quiet beauty as well. On our return to the van my old fear of height came back to me and I found myself clinging to the walls.

Photos of the Inca Ruins in

Just another Note: As I stated yesterday I am including some photos of the ruins of this ancient Inca village located in Cuenca.  I hope these photos assist you to feel a part of our trip.  I will continue to provide more photos.  I hope you all enjoy this photo session.

The villagers kept birds as pets

It is a little hard to see but there is a bird in this photo!

As we walked around this Ancient Inca Village we found information guides very helpfull

Another bird villagers kept as a pet

The size and beauty of these birds was delightful

Do you see the lovely birds?

I thought this bird was very interesting

see how the Inca’s used walls to hold back the hills

Flowers were everywhere in the village – some for beauty some for meds

Inside the farm land looking up at the hill

Right inside the center of the farm land for growing herbs

Switchbacks used to climb both up and down the hill as well as retain the hill

See the items planted in the garden

Marti enjoying a rest area inside the ruins

These berries were raised inside the village

The beauty of the garden was outstanding

Marti in the growing herb area of the ruins

Marti inside the growing area