Cultural Heritage Of Ecuador

Cultural Heritage of Ecuador

Introduction

For many years, people have had the need to share their beliefs and knowledge to future generations, these in a certain way become patrimonies since, in general, a heritage can be defined as what is inherited from parents andNature, and what we want to inherit our children and future descents, in other words everything that has been preserved for various years and has gone from one generation to another is a heritage although it could also be defined as the set of goods thatThey characterize the creativity of a people and that distinguish social societies and groups from each other, giving them their sense of identity, which, based on the describedparticular.

According to the United Nations culture "is the complex of spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional characteristics of a social society or group". This term includes, not only arts and letters, but also different ways of life, as well as the fundamental rights of the human being, value systems, traditions and beliefs.

Once the concept of heritage and culture is understood, it could be said that the cultural heritage of a certain place is the particular cultural heritage of that area, that is, the set of material and intangible goods that are strongly linked to their social identity andcultural, in other words, assets are those goods that are recognized as typical of that country or region. Unesco defines it as the set of goods that characterize the creativity of a certain peoples, these allow to distinguish other societies and social groups some of, that is, they are those goods that give their sense of identity to each culture, be these inherited assetsor recent production

Developing

Among the cultural manifestations that make up the cultural heritage includes a variety of things, going from traditions, places, habits or skills, artistic expressions, as well as cultural values and goods that have great historical, architectural, urban, artistic, archaeological value, testimonial and / or documentary. The literary, scenic, musical manifestations, as well as all representations of popular culture.

It should be noted that a cultural heritage must be of great historical, symbolic, formal, use, aesthetic, and economic value but above all the value that any heritage must have is the means by which people can be related toits past and taking into account this past, to be able to understand the development and behavior of the present. 

It should also be known that the first stumbling block that usually commits in the assessment of the heritage is that the materiality of the objects is considered more important and the intangible heritage is left in the background, which means that we generally give more value to the objectsFor its existence in time, that due to the role they played in history, which is not quite well since the material and immaterial heritage must consider in an integral way,

It is important to know that there are two types of assets between them: material or tangible cultural heritage, which is one that can be touched or subject, is concrete and physical, can be a statues, some architectural work, costumes, props, etc. ., whether or not they may or may not move from one place to another .;Intangible or intangible cultural heritage, which is one that, on the contrary of the other, cannot be subject or displaced, because it does not consist as a physical object, rather they are musical, verbal or imaginary, oral or social practices, such as songs such as songs, verses, dances or choreographies.

Ecuador has a lot of cultural heritage between them: the city of Quito, the city of Cuenca, the Mining City (Zaruma), the archaeological landscape of May Chinchipe-Marañón, the cultural itinerary of Transandino Railroad of Ecuador, the traditional fabric of the traditional of theEcuadorian hat of straw toquilla, Zápara oral heritage, marimba music, among other manifestations that are of great historical and cultural value for everyone since they are customs of certain peoples, that is to say that they are not found in other places, andThese have been shared by their predecessors and have been preserved over the years.

be a clear example of a traditional human settlement or the use of the land that is representative of one or several cultures, mainly when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change, where there will be no turning back and finally it must be directly relatedwith living events or traditions;with beliefs or ideas, with literary and artistic works of exceptional universal importance.

Among the cultural heritage of Ecuador we have the city of Quito which was declared as a cultural heritage of Humanity in 1978 by UNESCO the same year in which this organization develops the selection of assets that must be conserved by man due to theValue that these have, mainly an outstanding universal value that according to UNESCO should have every place to be part of the well -known and famous list of cultural and natural heritage of humanity. According to the information obtained from this organization, the city of Quito was founded in the 16th century to be more exact in 1534, above the ruins of an ancient Inca city and elevated to about 2.850 meters above sea level, it should also be noted that the capital of Ecuador has the completely shocking historic center,

Another of the cultural heritage that Ecuador has is the city of Zaruma, which is considered one of the oldest cities in Ecuador, ZarumThe steep narrow streets that make their way in the middle of the injured geography of the place. Another of the reasons why it is considered one of the most emblematic and historical places in Ecuador is through the historic center of this magical town, which has 201 heritage houses with meticulously built facades built in fine wood that reflect various techniques of the nineteenth century andXX. Housing decorate the city with beautiful balconies, numerous windows, greezas and cornices.

The Ecuadorian trans -Andean train is also part of the cultural heritage of Ecuador since this is an engineer icon that well known in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. This train was cataloged as the most difficult train in the world, due to the geography so complicated that the railway line should overcome. At present, the same original layout is maintained, which indicates that the Trans -Andean Railway of Ecuador is a city without any symbol of the national unity and its development, since through this train the exchange between the mountain range was allowedAnd the coast relating places before, promoting the exchange and trade of customs and traditions between the regions.

The Andean Road System or also known as Qhapaq Ñan on June 21, 2014 was registered in the Unesco World Heritage List, specifically in the category of cultural itinerary. Unesco for Ecuador, considered 108.87 km of Qhapaq Ñan, where 49 archaeological sites were recorded, and it should be clarified that in its journey, Afro -Ecuadorian, indigenous and mestizo communities are based. This road system crosses different plant formations such as: moors, pajonal, Andean eyebrow and inter -Andean dry valleys.

The famous tissue of the Toquilla strawobservation and imitation, all this since they are very small. These techniques and knowledge cover a very complex and dynamic social plot that includes, among other elements, traditional cultivation and production techniques, various forms of social organization and the use of the hat as part of the daily and festive clothing.

Another of the cultural heritage of Ecuador is the oral heritage and cultural manifestations of the Zápara people since in the heart of the Amazon, its inhabitants have developed an oral culture particularly rich in knowledge of their natural environment, as can be evidenced in abundanceof their terminology about flora and fauna, since they have a variety of medicinal plants that they obtain from the jungle. It should also be known that this cultural heritage also encompasses myths, rituals, artistic practices and its language. 

It should be noted that the current situation of the Zápara people is critical and the risk of extinction is not excluded, based on statistics it was obtained that, in 2001, the number of Zaparas did not exceed 300 of which only 5, of more than 70 years, their tongue still speaks.

The music of Marimba, songs and traditional dances of the Colombian South Pacific Region and the Province of Esmeraldas de Ecuador are also part of the intangible cultural heritage of Ecuador, and since December 2, 2015 cultural heritage of humanity, sinceThe knowledge and expressions shared by the Afro -descendant peoples of Ecuador and Colombia have a great historical and cultural value reason why they must be safeguarded and preserved as a kick from their memory.

conclusion

In summary, a cultural heritage is that custom or that is typical of a place and that has been transmitted from one generation to another in order to relate to the people of the past and that of the present in terms of beliefs and traditions we speak, we speak,These heritage can be architectural works, statues, music, dances among other things that have a certain historical value and that are a clear example of some civilization or culture of an ancient generation.

Ecuador as it could be seen has many material cultural heritage such as the city of Quito or the city of ZarumProtected because they are a distinctive of Ecuadorian culture, that is, they cannot be found in some other part of the world or are typical of the country.