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North Guayaquil - Cerro Del Carmen

Photo title: Bellavista and central Guayaquil
Link to flickr.

In the north of Guayaquil you find the Cerro del Carmen and Santa Ana, hilltops from where you have a view of the city and where the Daule and Babahoyo rivers that together form the Guayas River. The Rafael Mendoza Bridge is the largest in the country, 2,824 meters in lenght, 870 meters crossing the Daule river and 1,955 meters crossing the Babahoyo river.

At the top of the Cerro del Carmen, you will find the Monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, blessing the city and at the foot of it the General Cementary, also called the White City. It is considered the most beautiful in the country because of the large number and high quality of its sculptures. It has more than eighty monuments made of Carrara marble imported directly from Italy. The entrance has a long alley of palm trees at the end of which (entering by entrance No.3) you come upon the monument to Vicente Rocafuerte, the first president of Ecuador.

The Barrio las Penas located at the foot of the Santa Ana hill is an area of the city with a coastal colonial architecture. It was destroyed and reconstructed several times as a consequence of fires, in particular the great fire of 1896. It has only one street called Numa Pompilio Llona in honor of a famous Ecuadorian man of letters. This street starts at the Planchada wich was the place from which the city was defended and ends at the old installations of the Brewery, one of the Guayaquil's first industries.

During the festivities conmemorating the foundation of the city, this area becomes the city of outdoor exhibitions where national as well as foreign artists expose their works. Today many of the houses along this street have been turned into a galleries. It is here that many well know poets, heroes and composers were born.

The Church of Santo Domingo, also known as the Church of Saint Vincent was the first church of this city, built in 1548 and reconstructed on several occasions because of fires. The Basilica de la Merced, San Francisco and the Metropolitan Cathedral should also be visited in this area.

Continuing down the Julian Coronel Street you will pass by the Old Jail House, the Luis Vernaza Hospital, the morgue and the General Cemetary.