Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean

Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean

Ecuador - La Loma (The Hill)

The treadmill in this site belongs to private owners. The architecture has been changed with cement walls. Likewise, we may see the hydraulics, the treadwheel, the ruins of the treadmill, and the grinder as such and a part of the canal. The waterwheel and the grinder are still there, although they have not been used for more than thirty years. According to the elders, the history has been fading little by little, probably because of the lack of interest by the youngsters, who furthermore continue to migrate to the city looking for work.

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At La Loma, plots of land were given out to field hands. However, most of the hacienda was sold to another family, who did away with all the cane and therefore, had no use for the treadmill. The present owners grow other crops and the ancient huasinpungueros have settled in a hamlet, just behind the church and the old treadmill.

At la Loma, the treadmill kept functioning until 13 years ago. The machinery and structure still exist but the site’s architecture has been changed to store the current flower production.

 

Easy of access through a secondary road.
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Piece of the La Loma sugar mill. .

Other data of interest

Ecuador

Historical name

La Loma Gorda (The Fat Hill)

Founding Date

Turn of the 18th century

Address

Comunidad la Loma

Classification

Agro-industrial complex

Function-Testimony

Workplace

Access level

Restricted

Current Use

Flower growing 

Original use

Tread wheel for making sugar whose production was done at a mill. The water flowed through a canal and down to a wooden machine that turned on a circular belt and the millers would introduce the sugarcanes to be milled and from there the juice would flow through a little canal to the boiler and lime was added until the juice thickened. It was part of the sugar cane complex of the Valle del Chota since the times of the Jesuits and then it adopted the "concertaje" system. 

Property kind

Private