It is the capital of the province of the same name, located in the Cuxibamba Valley, 270 miles from Quito. It is one of the cleanest and safest cities in Ecuador.
Loja was founded by the Spanish captain Alonso de Mercadillo on December 8, 1548, which means that it is one of the oldest cities in Ecuador. Although some of its original buildings survive, the city has beautiful 18th century architecture.
The city has old streets, squares, churches and monasteries from the colonial era, such as the churches of La Catedral, Santo Domingo, San Francisco and San Sebastián. It has a great past, an important one made for Ecuador and America. Here began the great expeditions organized for the exploration of the Amazon in search of gold, the advance movement for Bolivarian independence was planned, as well as great feats of the country's political and social history.
Loja is a city that serves as a model for other cities in Ecuador, here you can do all kinds of tourism, from urban, cultural, religious, adventure, ecotourism, gastronomy, and health, one of the most important tourist places for its beauty , is the Jipiro Recreational Park.
It has an area of more than 10 hectares, which were donated by the Marist Brothers. The park contains a mosaic of mirrors and cultures, which has identified it as a place where the most outstanding culture and architecture in the world is represented. Here you can find a lake with boats, swans, ducks, scenic events, boats, bars, restaurants, tennis courts, and camping spaces.
It was created to rescue and promote the culture of Loja and Ecuador. On November 9, 2004 it opened its doors to the public, in its facilities you can see a collection of tools and utensils of 1,600 original pieces of Ecuadorian archeology in correlation with the element of "Lojanidad" very typical of the city and province of Loja .
It covers the best of Ecuador's diverse climates and protects an important community of large Podocarpus trees. In the highlands, layer upon layer, mist flows through deep jungle, and miles of secondary roads traverse the vibrant ecosystem. Meanwhile, butterflies, leaf-cutter ants, and all manner of animals and plants give life to the trails in the lower zone, a tropical primary forest along the Bombuscaro River.