Loja

Loja is one of the oldest Spanish cities in Ecuador. A first settlement was made in the mid-1540s near La Toma in the Catamayo canyon, but earthquakes and malaria drove the settlers away, and on 8 December 1548 the captain Alonso de Mercadillo refounded the city in the cooler Cuxibamba valley, naming it after his birthplace, Loja in Spain. In 1571 Philip II granted it a coat of arms, the model for today's city gate.

The city grew as a base for gold mining and for expeditions east into the Amazon. Earthquakes repeatedly damaged its churches: the cathedral was rebuilt in 1838, and the Gothic church of Santo Domingo lost all but its spires in 1867. Loja declared its independence from Spain on 18 November 1820. In 1859 the Federal Government of Loja, led by Manuel Carrión Pinzano, ordered higher studies to be offered in the city, the origin of the National University of Loja.

Far from Quito and Guayaquil, Loja built a reputation for music and learning. In the 21st century it has grown into a city of 203,496 people (2022 census) with several universities, while remaining the main gateway to Podocarpus National Park and the border with Peru.

Loja is known as the music and cultural capital of Ecuador. The city has a musical conservatory named after the composer Salvador Bustamante Celi, a symphony orchestra since the late 20th century, and a Museum of Music devoted to its composers. There are many small music and salsa clubs, and it is not uncommon to hear Lojanos singing as they go about their day. On Sundays the police band plays in the Plaza of Independence outside the church of San Sebastián.

Religion shapes the year. The Virgin of El Cisne, whose shrine stands in the town of El Cisne, about 74 km from Loja, is carried on the shoulders of the faithful to the city each August, and stays in the cathedral for part of the year before her return in November. Crowds walk the route behind her.

Frescoes of Bolívar and Sucre greet visitors at the city gate. North of the city live the Saraguro, a Kichwa people known for their black and white clothing, silver tupu pins and beaded wallka.

The 2022 census counted 203,496 people in Loja, which is the administrative, commercial and educational centre of Ecuador's far south. The National University of Loja and the Technical University of Loja, a private Catholic university known nationally for its distance-learning courses, bring large numbers of students, and the city lives partly from education, government and services. The province is one of Ecuador's main coffee-growing areas.

Most people live in the newer districts that spread along the valley north and south of the historic centre, between the Zamora and Malacatos rivers. The centre fills by day with offices, shops and students. Loja is also known for emigration, especially at times of drought such as 1967–1968; an estimated 150,000 Lojanos left their homes over the twenty years between 1962 and 1982.

Life is calmer than in the big cities. Current concerns include mining in the province, mainly for gold and bauxite, which has damaged the environment, and the rise in crime reaching even these calmer southern cities.

Loja has its own distinct kitchen. Repe, a creamy soup of green bananas and fresh cheese, is its best-known dish, and the city is known for tamales and humitas, parcels of ground maize steamed in leaves. Mote, the boiled hominy of the southern highlands, accompanies many meals. Cecina, pork seasoned with salt, garlic and pepper, dried in the sun and grilled, and fritada, pork ribs fried with orange, garlic and onion and served with mote and fried plantain, are other local dishes.

Coffee is the city's pride. Coffee is an emblematic product of Loja province and has gained ground in specialty markets, and cafés in the centre serve it alongside sweet breads and pastries. Horchata lojana is the city's traditional drink.

The almuerzo, the set lunch of soup, a main course with rice and a fruit juice, is the everyday meal for students and office workers, and fresh fruit juices are sold everywhere.