San Antonio de Ibarra is a city in northern

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

that lies at the foot of the

Imbabura Volcano Imbabura is an inactive stratovolcano in northern Ecuador. Although it has not erupted for about 7,500 years, it is not thought to be extinct. Imbabura is intermittently capped with snow and has no permanent glaciers. Covered in volcanic ...

and on the left bank of the Tahuando River in

Imbabura Province Imbabura () is a Provinces of Ecuador, province located in the Andes of northern Ecuador. The capital is Ibarra, Ecuador, Ibarra. The people of the province speak Spanish, and a large portion of the population also speak the Imbaburan Kichwa va ...

. It is about from the provincial capital of Ibarra and about northeast of Ecuador's capital

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

History

The city was founded in 1683, but there is evidence of human settlement from 100 years before.

Culture

San Antonio is famous for its wood artisans. For this is called also the ''Capital of wood

artisan An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

s''.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

, during his July 2015 visit to Ecuador, received a wood sculpture made by Jorge Villalba, born in San Antonio, as a gift.

Monuments

* Cathedral * Episcopal church *

People born in San Antonio

Leonidas Proaño Leonidas Eduardo Proaño Villalba (1910–1988) was an Ecuadorian prelate and theologian who was born in San Antonio de Ibarra and died in Quito. He served as the bishop of Riobamba from 1954 to 1985. He was a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize ...

, (1910-1988) bishop

References

External links

*
San Antonio de Ibarra page in Ecos Travel
* {{Authority control Populated places in Imbabura Province Populated places established in 1683 1683 establishments in the Spanish Empire