San Antonio de Ibarra

San Antonio de Ibarra is a small suburb of the larger city of Ibarra, which is located about 30 minutes north of where we live. Between the 16th and 17th century, woodcarvers from Spain settled in San Antonio. Nowadays, San Antonio de Ibarra is considered to be the most important woodcarving center in South America. Back in August, we visited San Antonio with our friend Leslie, who was visiting us from Cuenca. We got to have a peak at some of the carvers at work. As you can see, the work is all done by hand. Some workshops are camouflaged; outside they look like shacks, or regular homes. Yet inside the fragrant smell of Cedar wood fills the air, as reddish shavings cover the floor next to delicately hand-crafted chairs, religious sculptures, and tables. San Antonio has become one gigantic carpentry workshop in which many families have found a relatively lucrative source of income, while at the same time preserving a wood sculpting tradition of hundreds of years.