Cuenca makes the third cut in the New 7 Wonders Cities competition; the finalists will be announced Monday

Cuenca has advanced to the third stage of the New 7 Wonders Cities competition and will find out Monday if it will be one of 28 finalists.

The competition, sponsored by the website www.new7wonders.com started with 1200 nominess and was the pared to 300 before being reduced again to the final 77.

Cuenca is competiting with Quito for the final cut, as well as with Buenos Aires, Caracas, Bogota, Cusco, Lima, La Paz, Cairo, Dubai, Hong Kong, Miami, New York, Sydney, Paris, Mumbai and Kyoto, among others.

Organizers of the competition say that Cuenca rates well in its efforts to preserve its heritage and build a modern infrastructure. They also say that it has received impressive coverage from such publications as National Geographic Travel magazine, the Financial Times of London, Conde Nast Traveller and Lonely Planet travel guide.

Cuenca has also been the subject of international television features on ABC News and CNN. In September, the city received the Jean Paul L’Allier Heritage Prize, awarded by the Organization of World Heritage Cities.

If Cuenca becomes one of the 28 New 7 Wonders Cities finalists it will face a worldwide online internet vote that will be tabulated in July 7, 2014 with a winner being announced in December 2014.

Photo captions: Organizers of the 7 Wonders competition say that Cuenca is a strong contender because of efforts to preserve its heritage and projects to modernize infrastructure, such as the new light rail system.