History

To visit Hacienda Zuleta is to experience four centuries of Ecuadorian history seeped in Pre-Colombian, Spanish and Ecuadorian tradition.

Pre-Incan and Incan Period

The original inhabitants of the Zuleta region were the peace-loving Caranquis. They were an agrarian-based culture and flourished in this area, rich in volcanic soils, from about 800 A.D. until the arrival of the war-faring Incas in the late 1470’s. Within the grounds of Zuleta there are 130 Caranqui Mounds, which were supposedly constructed around 1200 A.D.  These earth mounds were necessary to protect buildings such as huts, sheds and temples from the humidity of the ground.
Although the Caranquis fought stoically against the Inca for forty years, they were eventually conquered and forced into Inca servitude. Yet Inca rule was short-lived. By 1534, the last Inca king, Atahualpa, had been captured and assassinated by the Spanish Conquistador, Pizarro, leaving the Inca empire in collapse and permitting a free for all for the land-hungry vassals of the Spanish Crown.

Jesuit Occupation

In the late 16th century, King Charles is believed to have bequeathed the Zuleta region to the Jesuits, who implemented their Spanish methods of farming and cattle and sheep production. In the following years an ‘obraje’ (small wool mill) was established. By 1691, the Hacienda house, granary and chapel were completed and the farm was in full operation.

Private Ownership of Zuleta

However, in 1713, under the direction of King Charles III, the property was confiscated and transferred to Canon Gabriel Zuleta, thus making Zuleta his seventeenth Hacienda. From this day forth the farm became known as Cochicaranqui de Zuleta. Upon the Canon’s death, the farm passed to the Posse family, who were inspired to bring the Hacienda back to its previous 17th century grandeur.

The Plaza-Lasso Family

Yet it wasn’t until the farm was sold to Jose Maria Lasso in 1898 and passed through two more generations to Galo Plaza Lasso, the ex-President of Ecuador, bullfighter and diplomat, that Zuleta recaptured its original prosperity. A farmer at heart, Lasso was an ardent supporter of modern agriculture and through this conviction he was the first to bring Holstein cows, systematic seed selection and tractors to Ecuador. Zuleta was his flagship, the place where each of these technologies was showcased.