About 70 kilometers northeast of Quito, next to the river Tahuando and at the foot of the Imbabura Volcano is the town Ibarra located. In 1868 an earthquake destroyed a lot of churches and public buildings built by the spanish. Nowadays Ibarra is a market place with colonial white-washed houses (that´s why it´s called the White City) and cobbled street, which makes it a popular place among tourists. Highlights of the city are the Santo Domingo church and the Roman Catholich Diocese of Ibarra.
