Photo by Mill 1, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
🇪🇨 Ecuador · Tungurahua Province
Photo by Mill 1, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
🇪🇨 Ecuador · Tungurahua Province
♨ Temperature
40°C
⛰ Altitude
1820 m
⚗ pH
7
💧 TDS
620 mg/L
🌊 Flow rate
—
📅 Established
Colonial period; thermal tradition continuous since 16th century
✓ Verified on 2026-07-22
Baños de Agua Santa — shortened simply to 'Baños' by Ecuadorians — is a small Andean spa town at the foot of Tungurahua, one of Ecuador's most persistently active volcanoes. The town sits at 1,820 metres in a warm, sheltered valley at the confluence of the Pastaza River canyon and the Andean escarpment, making it simultaneously a thermal resort, an adventure sports hub, and the main gateway to the Amazonian lowlands. The thermal springs are heated by the volcanic system of Tungurahua, which has been in a state of periodic eruption since 1999. Multiple public and private bath houses receive the volcanic spring water, cooled to bathing temperature. The most famous public baths — Piscinas de la Virgen — sit directly below the volcano, making them among the most dramatically sited thermal pools in the world. The town is also known for its taffy candy (melcocha), its water mills, and the sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de Agua Santa, whose patronage is associated with miracles attributed to the thermal springs.
| Sodium | 95 mg/L |
| Bicarbonate | 380 mg/L |
| Sulphate | 62 mg/L |
| Calcium | 48 mg/L |
| Silica | 28 mg/L |
Baños de Agua Santa has been a pilgrimage and healing site since the colonial period, centred on the sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de Agua Santa and the tradition of miraculous cures attributed to the volcanic spring water. The town survived the 1999 Tungurahua eruption after a brief evacuation — an event that deepened the local narrative of the volcano as a spiritually charged and ambivalent force. The Pastaza River canyon that cuts through the town is one of the most dramatic river gorges in South America.
Baños occupies a unique position in Ecuadorian culture: it is simultaneously sacred, festive, and extreme. The sanctuary draws religious pilgrims; the thermal pools draw health seekers; the canyon draws adventure tourists. The town's famous taffy candy — melcocha, pulled by hand on iron hooks in open-street workshops — has become a symbol of the place itself, its heat and sweetness an echo of the volcanic springs that give the town its name.
Tungurahua volcano remains active, creating both risk and opportunity for Baños. The town's resilience following the 1999 evacuation demonstrated the deep connection between community identity and the volcanic landscape. The thermal springs flow from a geothermal system driven by active volcanism — a resource that requires no artificial heating but that exists in a dynamic geological context requiring continuous monitoring and evacuation planning.
Websitewww.banos.gob.ec
AddressBaños de Agua Santa, Tungurahua, Ecuador