Quito ~ 18th Century

     The Quitu Indians lived on the site of Quito before the eleventh century. In 1487 it became the northern capital of the Inca Empire. Ninety years later it was captured by the Spanish under Sebastián de Benalcázar. The Ecuadoreans won their independence from Spain in 1822, and established Quito as their capital.
     The map was drawn by the Don Dionisio Alcedo y Herrera (1690-1777) ca. 1734. Dionisio traveled to America in 1706. He was Presidente y Capitán General of Quito from 1728 to 1737. He returned to Spain in 1752.
     The sheet was issued to commemorate the Expositión Filatélica National in Quito in 1982.

Cuenca ~ 1915

     Santa Ana de Cuenca was founded by the conquistador Gil Ramirez Davalos in 1557 on the ruins of the former residence of the Inca ruler Huayna Capac. It lies in a mountain valley (cuenca) at an altitude of 8,512 feet on the Rio Matadero.
     The map was drawn by Dr. Octavio Cordero Placios on the basis of information from the official records of the founding of the town in 1557. It was published by Dr. Palacios in his Miscelania historica del Azuay in 1915. The stamp shows a portion of the map centered around the plaza or public square in which stands what appears to be a gallows. On the original the ownership of the various lots is identified by the owners' names.
     The arms of Cuenca are pictured on the right side of the stamp.

     This Postal Tax Stamp, which supports the Social and Rural Workers Insurance Fund, issued in 1938 shows a map of Ecuador and the surrounding areas.