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9 de Octubre
The main thoroughfare of the Downtown area, 9 de Octubre, is definitely worth a stroll, even if you're not shopping, if only to experience the commercial vibrancy of the city.
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Cathedral
On the west side of Parque Bolívar is the cathedral. The original building on this site dates from 1547, but - as is common with most of Guayaquil's original wooden buildings - it burnt down. The present structure was completed in 1948 and renovated in 1978. The front entrance is extremely ornate, but inside it is simple, high-vaulted and modern.
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Church of La Merced
There are several ordinary colonial-era buildings in the streets immediately south of Las Peñas, but soon all the architecture turns mostly modern and dull. The Church of La Merced dates from 1938 and has a richly decorated golden altar, but the original wooden church built in 1787, like most of Guayaquil's colonial buildings, was destroyed by fire.
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Church of San Francisco
The Church of San Francisco was originally built in the early 18th century. After being destroyed by the 'Great Fire' in 1896, which also devastated huge swathes of the city, it was reconstructed in 1902. In the late 1990s, however, the church was beautifully restored to its current stunning condition.
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City Cemetery
Incorporated into the city landscape, this cemetery contains hundreds of above-ground tombs stacked atop one another (resembling a pint-sized apartment complex more than a final resting place). A walkway leads to several monuments and huge mausoleums, including the eerily impressive grave of President Vicente Pocafuerte.
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Clock Tower
Where 10 de Agosto hits the Malecón you'll see the famous Moorish-style clock tower, which originally dates from 1770 but has been replaced several times. The 23m-high tower is open to visitors to climb the narrow spiral staircase inside.
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Jardín Botánico de Guayaquil
About a half-hour drive north of town near Cerro Colorado, this botanical garden has over 80 orchid varieties and nearly 700 plant species. Paths and trails lead you past the plant exhibits and tropical birds flutter overhead. There is a gift shop, café, butterfly garden and an auditorium.
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La Rotonda
La Rotonda is one of Guayaquil's more impressive monuments, particularly when illuminated at night. Flanked by small mountains, it depicts the historic but enigmatic meeting between Bolívar and San Martín that took place here in 1822. Few people realize that the curved wall behind the statue acts as an acoustic reflector - if two people stand at either end, a whisper into the wall will be carried along to the other person.
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Las Peñas & Cerro Santa Ana
These two historic neighborhoods have been refurbished into an idealized version of a quaint South American hillside village, all brightly painted homes and cobblestone alleyways. If you peek inside an open door or window, however, you realize it's a bit of a Potemkin village that's not entirely sanitized as residents still live their everyday lives as they would elsewhere in the city.
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Malecón 2000
The riverfront promenade, which stretches 2.5km (1.5mi) along the bank of the Río Guayas, is Guayaquil's own Central Park - it's where the city comes to shop, eat, stroll and generally congregate. One of the most extensive urban renewal projects in South America, it's a gated, policed public space featuring ponds, gardens, playgrounds, restaurants, a museum, a performance space, an IMAX movie theater and a shopping mall.
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Malecón El Salado & Rodolfo Baquerizo Moreno Plaza
Like its more famous sister development on the Río Guayas to the east, the Malecón El Salado is an attempt to reclaim the city's waterfront for the everyday use of its residents. There are several eateries and cafés in a streamlined modern mall-like building along the estuary and a walkway above.
Read more about Malecón El Salado & Rodolfo Baquerizo Moreno Plaza
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Mercado Sur
Built in 1907, the handsome, steel Mercado Sur is a Belgian-designed covered market and was once the biggest marketplace in Guayaquil. Sometimes called the Crystal Palace, it has been restored with giant glass walls and is periodically filled with art and commercial exhibitions.
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Museo Antropológico y Arte Contemporáneo
The modern Museo Antropológico y Arte Contemporáneo houses anthropological and archeological exhibits as well as a superb collection of contemporary Ecuadorian art. MAAC also has a modern 400-seat theater for plays, concerts and film. Behind the museum is an open-air stage, where musical and theatrical performances are occasionally given. If you're peckish at interval, there's a food court next door.
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Museo Municipal
A block south of Parque Bolívar, you find the Museo Municipal and the municipal library. The archaeology room on the ground floor has mainly Inca and pre-Inca ceramics, and several figurines from the oldest culture in Ecuador, the Valdivia (c 3200 BC). Also on the ground floor is a colonial room with mainly religious paintings and a few period household items. Upstairs, there is a jumble of modern art and ethnography rooms with regional costumes, handicrafts and several shrunken heads.
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Museo Nahim Isaias
In the Plaza de Administración building is the new Museo Nahim Isaias, which exhibits a collection of sculptures, paintings and artifacts of the colonial period.
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Museo Naval
The little-visited Museo Naval, entered through the door on the Malecón side, has four large galleries with maps, documents, models and other curio of the seafaring history of the country.
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Numa Pompillo Llona
This historic street is named after the guayaquileño (1832-1907) who wrote the national anthem. Narrow and winding, it has several unobtrusive plaques set into the walls of some houses, indicating the simple residences of past presidents. The colonial wooden architecture has been allowed to age elegantly, albeit with a gloss of paint. It's a dead-end street, so you get to see everything twice.
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Olmedo monument
Just north of the Mercado Sur is the Olmedo monument honoring José Joaquín de Olmedo (1780-1847) an Ecuadorian poet and the president of the first Ecuadorian territory independent of Spanish rule. Just to the north, outside the Malecón's blue fence, is the sprawling street market known as La Bahía where you can pick up everything from underwear to DVDs of the Latin Grammy awards.
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Palacio Municipal
Across the street from the clock tower is the Palacio Municipal, an ornate, gray building that is separated from the simple and solid Palacio de Gobierno by a small but pleasant pedestrian mall. Both buildings date from the 1920s. The Palacio de Gobierno replaced the original wooden structure, which was destroyed in the great fire of 1917.
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Parque Bolívar
Guayaquil may be the only city in the world that has land iguanas, some over a meter in length, living downtown. These prehistoric-looking animals, a different species from those found in the Galápagos, are a startling sight in one of Guayaquil's most famous plazas, Parque Bolívar which is also known as Parque Seminario. Around its small ornamental gardens are many of Guayaquil's first-class hotels. On the west side of the park is the cathedral, and a block south you'll find the Museo Municipal and the municipal library. The archaeology room on the ground floor has mainly Inca and pre-Inca ceramics, and several figurines from the oldest culture in Ecuador, the Valdivia (c 3200 BC).
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Parque del Centenario
This plaza, found along 9 de Octubre, is the largest in Guayaquil and marks the midway point between the Río Guayas and the Estero Salado. It's four square city blocks of manicured gardens, benches and monuments, the most important of which is the central Liberty column surrounded by the founding fathers of the country.
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Parque Histórico Guayaquil
Historic Williamsburg meets the zoo at this large park across the Guayaquil-Durán bridge. It's divided into three zones: the Endangered Wildlife Zone, which has 45 species of birds, animals and reptiles; the Urban Architecture Zone, which has a restaurant and showcases the development of early 20th-century architecture in Guayaquil; and the Traditions Zone, which focuses on local traditions with an emphasis on customs, crafts and agriculture.
Showing 1-22 of 22 results
