Ecuador Pavilion introduced its country and culture to Expo visitors by holding two lectures on Valdivia culture and orchids yesterday. Ecuador expert Alexander Hirtz was the host.
In the lecture “Where does the mysterious culture come from,” Hirtz gave the audience an overview of the ancient Valdivia culture using numerous pictures. The Valdivia lived in the coastal region of present-day Ecuador between 3,500 B.C. and 1,800 B.C. and is one of the oldest civilizations of the Americas. The culture stands out for its complexity and uniqueness from other cultures in surrounding regions during that time.
The lecture about orchids revealed that Ecuador owns over 4,200 types of orchid, more than any other country. Ecuador’s complex geographic conditions give the country many different kinds of climates. That is the reason that Ecuador has so many different kinds of flowers, Hirtz explained, as he described the country’s ecology to the audience.
Ecuador straddles the equator, from which it takes its name. The capital city Quito was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 1970s for having the best preserved and least altered historic centre in Latin America. The historic centre of Cuenca, an outstanding example of a planned inland Spanish-style colonial city, is also a World Heritage Site. These two cities provide many themes and subjects for Ecuador to showcase a “Better City, Better Life.”
The Ecuador Pavilion is located in the Joint Pavilion of Central and South American Countries in Zone C of the Expo Site. Its five sections consisting of “World Centre,” “the Islands,” “the Coast,” “the Amazon” and “the Andes,” highlighting the geographical features of Ecuador and their unique charm in cultural diversity.
