Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean

Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean

Ecuador - Trapiche de Carpuela (Sugar Treadmill of Carpuela)

The treadmill in Carpuela has been totally destroyed. The members of the community say that some of the remains were thrown into the river. A cement wall and the remains of a canal that according to an informer are ancient may be seen. However, it is a site of memory of the life of the elders in the haciendas.  

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The chairman of the Town Council, however, assumes that the machinery was taken to Irumina, another hacienda belonging to the same owner of the Carpuela hacienda up to the 1960s.  

Easy access by car to the community of Carpuela and afterwards a short walk to the site
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Sugar Treadmill of Carpuela. View of the ruins of the wall of the sugar treadmill of Carpuela.
Sugar Treadmill of Carpuela. Vestiges of the Sugar Treadmill of Carpuela.
Sugar Treadmill of Carpuela. Vestiges of the Sugar Treadmill of Carpuela.
Sugar Treadmill of Carpuela. Vestiges of the Sugar Treadmill of Carpuela.

Other data of interest

Ecuador

Historical name

Trapiche de Carpuela (Sugar Treadmill of Carpuela)

Founding Date

Turn of the 19th century

Address

Comunidad de (Community of) Carpuela

Classification

Agro-industrial complex

Function-Testimony

Workplace

Access level

Free

Current Use

No use (ruins)

Original use

Treadmill to mill sugar cane to produce sugarloaves and coarse rum

Property kind

Community