# El Altar Parish, Penipe Canton, Chimborazo Province – Villages

> Source: https://wherepedia.org/ecuador/chimborazo/penipe/el-altar/

Parish · Penipe Canton 

# El Altar

El Altar is a parish of Ecuador in Penipe Canton, Chimborazo Province. It covers **74.2 km²**. 7 named villages and localities are recorded here, and 4 mapped services such as hospitals, banks and schools.

- 74.2km²
- 4mapped services

## Where is El Altar?

El Altar lies in [Penipe Canton](https://wherepedia.org/ecuador/chimborazo/penipe/), [Chimborazo Province](https://wherepedia.org/ecuador/chimborazo/), [Ecuador](https://wherepedia.org/ecuador/). It borders 6 other parishes: [Cumandá](https://wherepedia.org/ecuador/morona-santiago/palora/cumanda/), [Guanando](https://wherepedia.org/ecuador/chimborazo/guano/guanando/), [Matus](https://wherepedia.org/ecuador/chimborazo/penipe/matus/), [Penipe](https://wherepedia.org/ecuador/chimborazo/penipe/penipe/), [Puela](https://wherepedia.org/ecuador/chimborazo/penipe/puela/) and [San Antonio de Bayushig](https://wherepedia.org/ecuador/chimborazo/penipe/san-antonio-de-bayushig/). By area it is the 686th largest of 1,042 parishes in Ecuador. It covers 20.0% of [Penipe Canton](https://wherepedia.org/ecuador/chimborazo/penipe/). The centre of El Altar is about 147 km in a straight line from Quito, the capital. It is about 10 km from Penipe, the main town of Penipe Canton. The centre point is at 1.5474° S, 78.4401° W.

Source: [INEC - Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos via OCHA HDX, administrative boundaries (COD-AB, CC BY-IGO)](https://data.humdata.org/dataset/cod-ab-ecu).

## Things to see in and around El Altar

OpenStreetMap lists 2 named sights in El Altar: 2 waterfalls.

- Cascada de Quinuaquiro · waterfall
- Cascada del Curiquingue · waterfall

### Nearby, outside El Altar

- Aguas Termales Ojo de Fantasmo · hot spring, Puela4.7 km
- Ojo de Fantasmo · hot spring, Puela5.3 km
- Finca Inés Valero · attraction, Puela6.0 km
- Aulabug · attraction, Matus6.2 km
- Cima Tungurahua (5023m) · attraction, Puela8.6 km
- Tungurahua · volcano, Cotaló9.0 km
- Chonglontuz · attraction, Puela9.0 km
- Tungurahua Volcano · viewpoint, Baños9.4 km
- Parque Central de Penipe · monument, Penipe10 km
- Cementerio de Penipe · memorial, Penipe11 km
- El Copete · viewpoint, Baños12 km
- shelter · attraction, La Candelaria13 km

Source: [© OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract — named settlements](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright).

Named attractions, museums, viewpoints, historic sites and natural features mapped in OpenStreetMap. Places of worship are not listed.

## Know before you go: El Altar

- Time zoneUTC−5, no daylight saving · America/Guayaquil
- CurrencyDollar (USD)
- Country calling code+593
- LanguagesSpanish
- Plug typesType A, B · 120 V
- Driving sideRight
- Postcode format6 digits (######)

### Nearest airports

- Cotopaxi International Airport (LTX) · Latacunga74 km
- Coronel E Carvajal Airport (XMS) · Macas91 km

### Nearest railway station

Riobamba Train Station (Riobamba), about 27 km from the centre.

### Daylight

Days are longest in Dec (about 12.2 hours, sunrise around 06:02) and shortest in Jun (about 12.0 hours, sunrise around 06:12, sunset around 18:14).

Source: [GeoNames country and time-zone files (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.geonames.org/); [Wikidata (CC0) — plug types, mains voltage, driving side; retrieved 2026-11-02](https://www.wikidata.org/); [OurAirports (public domain)](https://ourairports.com/data/).

Airports with scheduled passenger flights; straight-line distances. Daylight is calculated for the 15th of each month in local standard time. Check entry and visa rules with official government sources before travelling.

## Villages and localities in El Altar

Open gazetteers list **7 villages, towns and localities** in El Altar.

- Asacucho
- Ayanquil
- Ganshi
- Pachanillay
- Palictahua
- Utugñag
- Utugñag Bajo

Source: [GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) — settlements, natural and historic features](https://www.geonames.org/); [© OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract — named settlements](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright).

## Weather in El Altar and the best time to visit

Using the climate of Penipe Canton, the warmest month is Feb (average 12 °C) and the coolest is Jul (10 °C). About 1,398 mm of rain falls in a year; the wettest month is Apr (162 mm) and the driest Sep (67 mm). The most comfortable months for a visit are **June to December**.

- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec

Month Average °C Rain mm 

Jan 12 124 

Feb 12 146 

Mar 11 162 

Apr 12 162 

May 11 129 

Jun 10 111 

Jul 10 89 

Aug 10 75 

Sep 11 67 

Oct 11 109 

Nov 11 113 

Dec 11 113 

Source: [NASA POWER climatology, retrieved 2026-10-29](https://power.larc.nasa.gov/).

## Nearest hospital, bank and fuel from El Altar

Need Nearest mapped Distance 

Hospital Subcentro de Salud Penipe · Penipe 10 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-1.56363&mlon=-78.53075#map=17/-1.56363/-78.53075) 

Bank Coop. 4 de Octubre · Penipe 10 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-1.56517&mlon=-78.53265#map=17/-1.56517/-78.53265) 

ATM Cajero Automatico · Baños 17 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-1.39774&mlon=-78.42306#map=17/-1.39774/-78.42306) 

Petrol pump E.S. Sindicato de Choferes "4 de Octubre" · Penipe 10 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-1.56141&mlon=-78.53013#map=17/-1.56141/-78.53013) 

Hotel Hostal Quinto Sol · El Altar 8.2 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-1.52341&mlon=-78.50980#map=17/-1.52341/-78.50980) 

Mall Novedades Lucita Banos Tungurahua · Baños 17 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-1.39683&mlon=-78.42376#map=17/-1.39683/-78.42376) 

School Escuela de Educación Basica Humboldt · El Altar 6.3 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-1.54869&mlon=-78.49644#map=17/-1.54869/-78.49644) 

College Escuela de Formación de Policías · Baños 17 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-1.39607&mlon=-78.40778#map=17/-1.39607/-78.40778) 

Police station UPC · Penipe 10 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=-1.56514&mlon=-78.53284#map=17/-1.56514/-78.53284) 

Source: [Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0) and © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)](https://overturemaps.org/).

Straight-line distance from the centre of the division, within 40 km.

## Hospitals, banks and other services in El Altar

Places mapped inside El Altar in open map data, by type.

- Hotels2
- Schools2

Source: [Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0) and © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)](https://overturemaps.org/).

Coverage depends on what has been mapped; contact details are not shown.

## Other parishes in Penipe Canton

- Bilbao
- La Candelaria
- Matus
- Penipe
- Puela
- San Antonio de Bayushig

## Quick answers

- Where is El Altar?In Penipe Canton, Chimborazo Province, Ecuador
- What borders El Altar?Cumandá, Guanando, Matus, Penipe, Puela and San Antonio de Bayushig
- What is there to see in El Altar?Cascada de Quinuaquiro, Cascada del Curiquingue
- What time zone is El Altar in?UTC−5
- What currency is used in El Altar?Dollar (USD)
- What language is spoken in El Altar?Spanish (main languages nationally)
- How many villages are in El Altar?7 named settlements (GeoNames, OpenStreetMap)
- What is the best time to visit El Altar?June to December
- Where is the nearest hospital to El Altar?Subcentro de Salud Penipe, about 10 km from the centre
- Where is the nearest bank to El Altar?Coop. 4 de Octubre, about 10 km from the centre
- Where is the nearest ATM to El Altar?Cajero Automatico, about 17 km from the centre
- Where is the nearest petrol pump to El Altar?E.S. Sindicato de Choferes "4 de Octubre", about 10 km from the centre
- What is the P-code of El Altar?EC060951 (OCHA common operational dataset)