The workshops of the Ecuadorian capital will help you get your fix of local icons, writes Sarah Pollok
Standing inside Restauraciones Carrion in the Old Town of Quito, Ecuador, is an experience that is both endearing and unnerving.
Endearing because it's here you'll meet Gonzalo Gallardo, a soft-spoken 59-year-old artist who has the extraordinary job of restoring century-old Catholic statues for churches and families in the city's historic centre.
Unnerving because, as a result, anyone who enters his hole-in-the-wall studio is immediately confronted by the lifelike gaze of several dozen baby Jesuses, Saint Marys, grinning cherubs and winged angels in various states of ruin.
As travellers jet off to London or New York, Melbourne or Paris, the city of Quito in Ecuador may seem like an unusual destination to visit. However, if, like me, you're heading to the revered bucket-list destination known as the Galapagos Islands, this is your best departure point. With a day to spare before we embark on our Hurtigruten Expeditions cruise, there's a chance to explore this colourful city and meet some of its residents.
In the centre of the shoebox store, a glass cabinet-turned-drafting table is covered in layers of hardened paint splatter, open bottles of pigment, rolls of masking tape, several miniature statues and two life-like and life-sized baby Jesuses that glisten with fresh varnish, frozen in the act of reaching their chubby ceramic arms up towards the sky.
To the left, a floor-to-ceiling shelf is crowded with figures awaiting resurrection at the hands of Gallardo. Some stand more than a metre tall with wings and limbs that have cracked clean off while others are no bigger than a matchbox, discoloured from decades of sun, rain or human touch.
And it is, indeed, decades. Because, unlike the Western, secular approach to objects (buy new and replace when broken), families in Ecuador inherit their religious figures, which have been passed down through generations.
So, if the 75-year-old Angel Gabriel discolours after a season in the attic or a toddler knocks over your great-grandmother's Saint Joseph, you don't pop to the shops to replace it. Instead, you go to someone who knows the craft and can repair it.
Someone like Gonzalo Gallardo, or his wife, Rocio Carrion who learnt the trade and inherited the business from her family.
Eighty years on, the arguably niche business remains as busy as ever, which, given its location, is no surprise.
Ecuador is predominantly Roman Catholic (80 per cent according to the most recent census from 2012) and there are 30 churches in Quito's historic centre alone.
These aren't your small, understated chapels either but buildings of titanic proportions with ceilings that reach to the heavens and walls covered in large oil paintings, intricate gold-leaf sculptures and countless religious statues. All of which, eventually, need a touch-up or repair job.
Despite being a niche craft, it's one that is deeply important to the public, which is why Gallardo is considered a Heritage Guardian, or "Guardinos del patrimono de San Roque". The title is part of an initiative created by the San Roque neighbourhood to help protect traditional trades.
Fortunately, Gallardo has already started teaching his four sons the tricks of the trade so they can continue the family legacy.
"During Christmas, when we're most busy, I use that time to teach them," he said in Spanish.
CHECKLIST: QUITO
GETTING THERE
Fly to Quito with Air New Zealand and United Airlines, via Houston. Talk to your travel agent or Hurtigruten Expeditions to book flights to coincide with your cruise.
Arrange a private tour to Restauraciones Carrion through Metropolitan Touring, which includes an English-speaking guide.
DETAILS
Hurtigruten Expeditions' Galapagos Islands Expedition – in Darwin's Footsteps is a 9-day cruise that travels from Quito, Ecuador to several of the Galápagos Islands. The cruise will make 32 departures between January 2023 and March 2024.
