Calderón (Quito)

Calderón is a place in Ecuador with about 105,000 inhabitants ( 2005). Administratively, it is a rural parish of the canton of Quito in the province of Pichincha. He is known for his colorful figures made ​​of bread dough ( Guaguas de pan ).

Geography and climate

Calderón is located 10 km northeast of the capital Quito and 20 km south of the Equator at the Pan-American Highway in the Ecuadorian Andes Sierra. The area of ​​the Parroquia is bordered to the south west directly to the city of Quito, on the northwest by Pomasqui, to the north by San Antonio de Pichincha, on the northeast by Guayllabamba, on the southeast by Tababela and Puembo and on the south by Zámbiza and Llano Chico. Calderón is the seat of the canton of Quito Zonalverwaltung Calderón, which further comprises the much smaller parish Llano Chico.

The climate is temperate dry, the soils are sandy.

History

Calderón was in pre-Columbian time a center of Cara - culture, which is also the former Kichwa name Carapungu back ( " gateway to the land of Cara "). 1897 Carapungu was under the liberal president Eloy Alfaro ( 1895-1901 and 1906-1911 ) as Calderón to a private Parroquia ( parish, political administrative district below a canton ). The name goes back to the Ecuadorian national hero Abdon Calderón, who at the Battle of Pichincha was in 1822 against the Spanish.

Culture and sights

Commemoration of the dead

At All Souls' Day on November 2 ( Día de los difuntos ), many of the mostly indigenous inhabitants of Calderón's go to the village cemetery to commemorate the dead. It is customary not to consult related people to pray for their own dead. For this they will be thanked with food to which colada morada and the Guaguas de pan belong. In the minds of the living, the food is thereby sacrificed to the dead.

In the second week of November will be held from Calderón from a traditional nightly pilgrimage that ends at sunrise with the church Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Quinche.

Guaguas de pan

Guagua means in Quechua " small child " or "baby". The Guaguas de pan ( " bread Babies" ) are traditionally formed from cornmeal and water, as they must be edible to be sacrificed to the dead. In order to sell the figures as painted art objects, they are made from a mixture of corn starch, water and rubber. It is said that the face of a doll reflects the state of mind of the customer resists, and a doll with a happy face also make the buyer happy.

Economy and infrastructure

Only a few more of the producers shape their products today with the hand, most of the pieces are machine-made and exported abroad. It also event-related motifs in the form of wedding couples and dancing figurines and trees, animals or cribs are made. In the village there are regular exhibitions.