Discovering Ruinas de Todos Santos

In the heart of Cuenca, Ecuador, between cobbled streets, colonial churches, and the hum of daily life, lie the enigmatic Ruinas de Todos Santos. To the casual passerby, they might seem like nothing more than fragments of old walls or scattered stones. Yet behind these quiet remains is a story that reaches deep into time, a story of vanished cultures, sacred rituals, and civilizations that once flourished in the Andean highlands.

The Ruinas de Todos Santos are more than a historical curiosity. They are a portal into the lives of the Cañari and Inca peoples, both of whom shaped this region long before the Spanish arrived. Their stones carry traces of two worlds meeting, overlapping, and transforming each other. For those who stand before them today, the ruins offer more than archaeology. They are an echo of memory, a place where ancient energies still linger and where the past continues to breathe beneath the modern city.

In this article, we will explore the history and the mystery of the Ruinas de Todos Santos. We will look at the people who built them, their possible purposes, and the connections they share with other sacred sites across the Andes.

The Location

Cuenca is one of Ecuador’s most beautiful cities, known for its colonial charm and mountain scenery. Yet long before its Spanish churches and plazas rose, this valley was home to powerful civilizations. The city stands where several rivers meet, including the Tomebamba, Tarqui, Machángara, and Yanuncay. The land here is fertile and rich, cradled by the Andes and filled with history.

The Ruinas de Todos Santos are found near the Tomebamba River, just a short walk from Cuenca’s city center. This location was not chosen by chance. For the ancient peoples of the Andes, rivers were sacred, seen as life-givers that connected the human world to the spiritual one. Building near water was a way to remain close to the source of renewal and transformation.

From this spot, you can look out across the flowing river and imagine the world that existed long before Cuenca became a colonial city. The sound of the water, the shifting light on stone, and the scent of earth combine to create an atmosphere that feels both peaceful and charged with presence.

The Discovery

Although the site of Todos Santos was always known to local people, it was not until the twentieth century that archaeologists began to take a deeper interest in it. Even then, studies were limited and often interrupted. The early explorers found fragments of walls, stone foundations, and traces of what might have been ceremonial structures. Yet the full picture never emerged.

Part of the challenge lies in the way Cuenca grew. Over centuries, newer buildings and roads covered many of the ancient layers. In some cases, colonial builders reused stones from the old structures, blending the ancient and the new. This makes it difficult for archaeologists to separate the timelines or determine which parts belonged to which civilization.

Despite these challenges, researchers have identified several distinct features that offer clues. The style of the stonework and the arrangement of the site suggest that it may have served both ceremonial and residential purposes. Some of the remaining walls show signs of careful alignment and planning, typical of cultures that placed deep symbolic meaning in geometry and direction.

Today, the site is protected, and access is limited to preserve what remains. While this restricts visitors, it also ensures that future excavations might one day reveal more of the story hidden beneath the soil.

The Cañari

Before the Incas rose to power, the Cañari people inhabited this region of southern Ecuador. They were an advanced and deeply spiritual culture, skilled in agriculture, stonework, and astronomy. Their settlements were often built on high ground and near rivers, reflecting their belief in balance between sky, earth, and water.

The Cañari are said to have seen their land as a living being. Hills, rivers, and stones were not mere objects but sacred entities. The Ruinas de Todos Santos may have been part of this worldview, a place where ceremonies honored natural forces and ancestral spirits.

Some researchers believe the site could have been a small ceremonial complex or a cluster of dwellings for religious leaders. Others think it might have been connected to a larger network of Cañari sites across the region. The stones at Todos Santos resemble those found in other Cañari locations such as Cojitambo and Ingapirca, suggesting a shared architectural language.

The Cañari left few written records, but their legacy survives in local traditions, stories, and the quiet persistence of their sacred places.

The Arrival of the Inca

When the Inca Empire expanded northward from Peru, they encountered the Cañari and eventually incorporated their territory into their realm. The Incas were known for adapting existing sites, often rebuilding on top of earlier foundations. This blending of cultures can be seen throughout the Andes, from Cusco to Quito, and Todos Santos may be another example.

The Inca were master builders. Their stonework was marked by extraordinary precision, with blocks cut to fit so closely that even a blade of grass could not pass between them. Some sections of the Ruinas de Todos Santos show this kind of craftsmanship, leading some archaeologists to believe that the Incas reworked the original Cañari structures.

For the Inca, Cuenca was more than a provincial outpost. They saw it as a place of great importance, possibly even one of the key cities of their empire. Known to them as Tomebamba, it was said to rival Cusco in beauty and significance. The presence of Inca-style architecture here supports the idea that this was once a thriving administrative and ceremonial center.

If the Inca did indeed reconstruct the site, then Todos Santos might have been part of a wider system of temples and ritual spaces designed to connect the empire through lines of sacred geography known as ceques. These invisible pathways linked mountains, rivers, and temples into a cosmic network. The site’s proximity to the Tomebamba River would have made it ideal for such a role.

A Meeting of Civilizations

What makes Todos Santos especially fascinating is the possibility that it represents not one culture, but two intertwined. The Cañari and the Inca each left their mark, and rather than erasing one another, their layers may coexist in harmony.

This blending is symbolic of what Cuenca itself became, a place of convergence, where old and new, indigenous and imperial, earthly and spiritual all met. Today, that layered history still defines the city. You can see it in the stones of Todos Santos, where the older rough blocks rest beside the smoother Inca walls, and both lie under the shadow of colonial churches.

The result is not confusion, but continuity. The stones tell a story of adaptation and survival, of how one culture absorbed another and yet allowed traces of both to endure.

Connections to Other Ancient Sites

To understand Todos Santos, it helps to look beyond Cuenca and trace its echoes across the Andes. Many ancient sites share similar features such as sacred alignments, riverfront locations, and fine stonework.

One of the closest connections is with Ingapirca, Ecuador’s most famous archaeological site, located about ninety kilometers north of Cuenca. Ingapirca was originally a Cañari ceremonial site that the Incas later expanded, creating the famous Temple of the Sun. The parallel is striking. Like Ingapirca, Todos Santos may have started as a Cañari sanctuary and later became an Inca ritual space.

Other nearby sites, such as Cojitambo and Pumapungo, also reveal patterns of shared design and purpose. These places likely formed part of a network of observatories, temples, and administrative centers that helped the Inca manage their vast territory. The alignment of these sites suggests that astronomy played a major role in their placement. Solstices, river orientations, and mountain peaks may have guided the builders of Todos Santos in their work.

Beyond Ecuador, one can even find distant resonances with sacred sites in Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile. The Incas saw the Andes as a single living spine of the world, and every temple and ruin was a vertebra in that cosmic body. In this sense, Todos Santos was never an isolated place. It was part of a vast spiritual geography that stretched from Lake Titicaca to the equator.

Silent Stories

Though much of Todos Santos remains unexcavated, it continues to speak to those who visit. The stones, worn by centuries of rain and sunlight, still hold a presence that is difficult to describe but easy to feel. Standing there, with the sound of the Tomebamba flowing nearby, one senses a kind of quiet awareness, as if the earth remembers everything that happened here.

Locals sometimes speak of the site as being “alive.” Even when silent, it carries the pulse of history. The wind that moves through the ruins seems to carry voices, and the light that falls on the old walls shifts with a deliberate grace, as though tracing forgotten patterns.

Perhaps this is what makes ancient places so powerful. They remind us that history is not just a list of dates or events but a living conversation between people and the land. The Ruinas de Todos Santos are part of that conversation. They invite us to listen closely, to notice the details, and to feel the continuity between past and present.

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