Tulcan

About

Tulcan first entered the history books when it successfully resisted the Incan conquest, though it quickly fell to Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. The most important settlement in the region during the colonial era, this busy provincial capital near the Colombian border remains a key center for commerce. The city’s narrow pedestrian streets, wide boulevards, and green spaces sometimes draw comparisons to Old-World cities like Paris, though without much in the way of actual landmarks - with one special exception: its cemetery. In 1936, Josè Maria Azael Franco, the cemetery’s caretaker began shaping the bushes on the grounds, and by the time of his death in 1985 had created the finest topiary garden in the New World. With classic archways and geometric shapes, animals, and Incan symbols, the many living sculptures here make the cemetery “so beautiful it invites one to die.”