Cotacachi (city)
Coordinates: 0 ° 18 ′ N , 78 ° 16 ′ W
Cotacachi is a city in Imbabura Province in Ecuador , and the capital of the canton of the same name . The city has about 20,000 inhabitants and is located on average at 2,418 m above sea level in a valley between the volcano Cotacachi and the volcano Imbabura , with 4,935 m and 4,621 m the two highest mountains in the Imbabura province.
The city is located 17 km north of Otavalo and is mainly famous for its leather goods (cowhide). The village is an ideal starting point for excursions, especially to Lake Cuicocha, 10 km to the west .
The population consists largely of indigenous people ( kichwas-speaking Otavalos ). The Kichwas Auki Tituaña - from 1996 to 2009 mayor of the city - and the ex-foreign minister Nina Pacari are the most famous indigenous personalities of the place and at the same time represent a new political indigenous self-confidence as members of the Pachakutik party . In 2009, Tituañas' opponent, Kichwa Alberto Anrango from the Correa Movimiento PAÍS party , was elected mayor.
The sights of the place include a colonial church as well as some buildings from the turn of the century.
Sons and daughters
- Segundo Luis Moreno (1882–1972), composer
- Bernardino Echeverría Ruiz (1912–2000), Roman Catholic religious, Archbishop of Guayaquil
- Alberto Anrango (* 1947), politician
- Nina Pacari (* 1961), politician and lawyer
- Geovanni Mauricio Paz Hurtado (* 1962), Roman Catholic clergyman, Bishop of Latacunga
- Auki Tituaña (* 1965), politician
