History of Guayaquil

The city was named after a Guayaquile Indigenous Chief named Guayas, and his wife, Quil. Both of them chose to die before surrendering themselves to the Spaniards.

On the top of the hill of Santa Ana you can observe cannons that were used to defend the city from pirate attacks. Few houses preserve their original architecture, with defense walls facing the river.

Many of these houses were built at different levels on the hill, very typical of the Spaniards and Portuguese.

Guayaquil La Rotonda Monument

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Since the 16th Century, the Spanish possessions in South America went from the northwestern coast all the way to the south of the continent.

For over two centuries, Lima was the main Spanish administrative center, as capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which extended over all Spanish possessions.

The beautiful monument of La Rotonda at Guayaquil's Simon Bolivar Waterfront shows both liberators shaking hands.

Both liberators, who led the struggles for independence in the Andean Viceroyalties: Simon Bolivar in New Granada and Jose de San Martin in La Plata arrived to Guayaquil in July 1822, where they had a historical encounter and determined that Guayaquil would be annexed to the Gran Colombia.



In the 18th Century the territory was divided into three main administrative centers:

• The Viceroyalty of New Granada, established in 1717 (Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador)
• The Viceroyalty of Peru, in 1542 (Peru and Chile)
• and the Viceroyalty of La Plata, in 1776 (Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia).

This division remained until the end of the Colonial period. The struggles for independence in what is now Ecuador started early, in 1809, but it was not until 1822 when the Spanish were defeated and Ecuador became part of the Gran Colombia, formed by Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

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In the history of Guayaquil, shortly after midnight on October 9, 1820 a group of patriots of Guayaquil, allied with the Corps of Granaderos took over the military post, its arms and ammunition.

The Spanish authorities, mainly the Commander and the Governor were detained and by dawn the citizens of Guayaquil were celebrating the triumph of the revolution. The Act of Independence of Guayaquil was signed that same day.

The month of October of each year is now part of the history of Guayaquil, the celebration of the Independence of this city is the perfect excuse for many artistic and cultural activities in the newly restored city.

During your vacations in Ecuador, visit Guayaquil also called "The Pearl of the Pacific".

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