Museums &amp; Galleries in Quito

This is the most famous postcardo of Quito! It is a symbol of the people religiosity and faith. Even though the statue made of almost 7.000 pieces of alluminium was set in 1975, the origin of this representation is in a 1734 sculpture made by Bernardo de Legarda, one of the most famous Colonial artists from Quito! Read more ›

Touch the sky blessed by the Virgin!

The Panecillo Hill

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Museum of the Watercolor and Drawing

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This is the most complete collection of watercolors by Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Muñoz Mariño depicting UNESCO's World Heritage Sites and it is located in a 1600s restored house in San Marcos Colonial district! Read more ›

All World Heritages sites in one place!

Museum of the Watercolor and Drawing

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Guápulo

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Because is romantic, old-fashioned, historical and peaceful. The geography is stunning and the architecture of its main steep cobblestone street is a review of the Colonial Spanish Era. It's a trendy place for artists! Read more ›

The Sanctuary of the Moon

Guápulo

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Good Friday Procession

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This is the most impressive Catholic procession of Ecuador, which is celebrated every Good Friday in all the principal streets of the oldquarter. It departs from the church of San Francisco around 10am and is a display of "cucurucho" penitents dressed in purple costumes, a man representing Christ carrying the cross and thousands of devoted people! Read more ›

Live the religiosity of an Andean city!

Good Friday Procession

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Monastery of San Diego

San Diego is one of the oldest monasteries built by the Franciscan monks in 1599. Next to the monastery there is the oldest cemetery of the city and there is the legend of the 17th century priest Manuel de Almeida, one of the most enigmatic in the popular belief. Read more ›

Art, saints and souls in one place!

Monastery of San Diego

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Saint Agustine church

This is one of the oldest churches of Quito designed by Spanish architect Francisco Becerra in 1581. Inside there is a sculpture of a Christ of the Good Hope carved in 1652 that has a sandal that is part of a very popular legend. There are regular masses for locals, so this is a very popular church for devoted people. Read more ›

The History of Art in one place!

Saint Agustine church

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Local Experience

The traces of Quito

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Quito is a city of contrasts with a milenar past. This is a tour that will make you discover the Ecuadorian Capital from different angles and perspectives, starting in its Pre-Columbian Past, passing through the World Art History.

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Prices from

10 USD

Duration

4 h

Languages

French, English, Spanish, Portuguese

Miguel de Santiago Museum

In the interior of the main cloister of the Saint Agustin convent, it is the Chapter's Room, used for the signing of the first Act of Independence of the Royal Audience of Quito (current Ecuador) from Spain in 1809. This was one of the first attempts of freedom in South America and the reason why Quito is known as "Light of the Americas! Read more ›

Master of Colonial Art in South America!

Miguel de Santiago Museum

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Convent of San Francisco

This is a postcard of the city. The square is very popular among local people and the church has always devoted people. This is the home of the statue of Our Immaculate Lady of Quito, the patron saint of locals carved by Bernardo de Legarda in 1734. Read more ›

The oldest monastery of South America!

Convent of San Francisco

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Convento del Carmen Bajo

The monastery is located over the place where the Ecuadorian Saint Mariana de Jesus lived in the 17th century. Her family donated the house and the Barefoot Carmelites built the convent and church in 1653. For locals this is the birthplace of the first Ecuadorian Saint and second in Latin America after Santa Rosa de Lima, Peru. Read more ›

Discover the Carmelite heritage!

Convento del Carmen Bajo

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Guayasamín House and Chapel of Mankind

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Oswaldo Guayasamín (1919-1999), born in Quito is considered as one of the masters of 20th century Ecuadorian Art. His paintings reflect the history of Ecuadorian marginal people such as the Indians, Africans and oppressed. He's a reference of local culture! Read more ›

The Painter of Ibero-America

Guayasamín House and Chapel of Mankind

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La Ronda Street

This is a narrow cobblestone street very famous among locals because it appears in many paintings and it was the craddle of several famous poems and songs. The street has recuperated its splendor and its is very popular for local people who come on fridays and saturday nights for drinking a traditional hot "canelazo" made of cinnamon with a liquor! Read more ›

One of the oldest streets of Quito!

La Ronda Street

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Presidential Palace

This is the headquarter of the President of the Republic since 1830 and it was the seat of Spanish Colonial rule since 1612. The white building is one of the most representatives of the country and is the symbol of democracy in current Ecuador. Read more ›

The history of the Republic of Ecuador!

Presidential Palace

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Manuela Sáenz Museum

The museum is hosted in the traditional Colonial district of San Marcos, a place which still conserves the familiar ambiance. It is very quiet and the museum boasts a very nice collection of three characters considered as symbols of Ecuadorian identity: Simón Bolívar, Manuela Sáenz and Antonio José de Sucre. Read more ›

Discover the Liberator of the Liberator!

Manuela Sáenz Museum

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Local Experience

San Marcos District Tour with Coffee & Craft Beer

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Discover the magic and milenar history of one of the best preserved Colonial districts of Quito which is a museum of architecture on the open air. During the tour we'll stop for coffee and craft beer tasting.

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Prices from

32 USD

Duration

5 h

Languages

French, English, Spanish, Portuguese

Camilo Egas Museum

This is a small museum located in a Colonial house in one of the most traditional neighborhoods of the Historical District of Quito. The museum is managed by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage of Ecuador and offers art workshops and activities for free. Read more ›

Discover a master of Latin American Art!

Camilo Egas Museum

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Casa del Alabado Pre-Columbian Art Museum

The restored Colonial mansion reminds the old houses where most of the traditional families from Quito used to live until 50 years ago and the archaeological collection is one of the finest in the country owned by a private repository. Read more ›

A journey to the most remote past!

Casa del Alabado Pre-Columbian Art Museum

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Basilica of the National Vow

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This is the biggest church of Quito that you can see from all over the city. Their towers are a popular spot for those who like the adrenaline and want to have the best view of the historical and modern city. It is very popular for teenagers to get up the tallest tower and take pics. Read more ›

Reach the heavens!

Basilica of the National Vow

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Basilica of Our Lady of La Merced

The church of La Merced receives many devoted people in holy mass everyday and in the surroundings of its square there are many shops. this is a bustling area for traders, walkers, tourists and preachers. The square in front of the church is always busy. Read more ›

Art history in one place!

Basilica of Our Lady of La Merced

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Fray Pedro Gocial Museum

This is the most impressive and massive religious building of the Historical Center of Quito. This is one of the most famous postcards of the city and its towers a reference for every local. This has been a meeting place for locals since Inca times. Read more ›

The largest collection of Colonial Art!

Fray Pedro Gocial Museum

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Independence Square

This is the heart of the city where the most important buildings are located such as the Independence Square, Cathedral, Presidential Palace and City Hall. This is also the place where everything has happened throughout history: from bullfightings in Colonial times, a massacre during the first attempt of Independence until presidential overthrows! Read more ›

The Historical Heart of Ecuador!

Independence Square

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Barrio San Marcos

Because it is still a residential neighborhood where local families live and has preserved the Cultural Heritage and Architecture along the Junín Street. This is one of the oldest parishes of Quito founded around 1580 by the Spaniards. Read more ›

One of the oldest neighborhoods of Quito

Barrio San Marcos

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Museo Monacal de Santa Catalina

This is one of the oldest and most traditional nuns' convents in town since its founding in 1592. You never see the nuns because they are cloistered, but they make tradicional products that are sold in a turnstile. There is also a bench that was used by a nun that is said that it helps couples who cannot have children, so they come and seat. Read more ›

Women, art & faith in a convent!

Museo Monacal de Santa Catalina

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Paco Viñachi Art Gallery

Monjas-Orquídeas is a mid-class neighborhood located on the slopes of a mountain at the edge of a canyon where the Machángara river pass by. This is still a place were hummingbirds like to come and drink water. This used to be a paradise of orchids, but now is crowded, although peaceful. Read more ›

Contemporary Art & Nature

Paco Viñachi Art Gallery

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Museo de Sitio La Florida

This is a museum located over a very important archaeological place where the archaeologists discovered several tombs were Ancient Quitenians were buried between 200-680 AD. The area around this cemetery is a crowded neighborhood located on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano. Read more ›

Death and life on the Andes!

Museo de Sitio La Florida

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Contemporary Art Center

This wonderful place is located in the old Military Hospital built by the German architect Francis Schmidt in 1900 under the rule of Gen. Eloy Alfaro. This was the sanatorium for mental-ill-people but later was transformed in the Hospital of the Army. This institution functioned here until 1970s when a new hospital was constructed. Read more ›

Gazing the best of Arts

Contemporary Art Center

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La Circasiana Palace

This palace is located in the intersection of the avenues 10 de Agosto and Colon. This is one of the postcards of the La Mariscal District and the origin of this neighborhood in 1892. The gardens are decorated with unicorns and fountain and inside the mansion is the National Institute of Cultural Heritage and the Metropolitan Archive of History. Read more ›

Discover the memory of Quito

La Circasiana Palace

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La Previsora Building

This was the first skyscraper built in Quito in 1930 by the American architects John Hopkins and Dentz. It was used for the Humboldt Hotel and then it was occupied by La Previsora bank ans Shell Petroleum. For old people, this is the memory of an epoch of nostalgic splendor in 1940s and 1950s. Read more ›

The first skyscraper of Quito

La Previsora Building

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Chiriboga Palace

This is a Historicist building designed for the Chiriboga family residence in 1936 by the Mexican architect of Italian ancestry Rubén Vinci, a majestic construction of a wide area of more than 2.000 m2. This palace won a prize in 1937. There are some shops there now. Read more ›

The Palace of the ceramic!

Chiriboga Palace

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Metropolitan Institute of Cultural Heritage

The current Eclectic building was built by the Pérez Pallares family in 1914 with the famous Italian architect Antonino Russo. This was a hotel and a foundation but in 1822 it was the mansion of the Larrea family, place where the Liberator Simon Bolivar met the Quitenian Manuela Sáenz and this episode was the origin of the most famous love story! Read more ›

The stage of a very famous love story!

Metropolitan Institute of Cultural Heritage

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The Old Military Circle

This palace was built by Franceso Durini between 1917 and 1936. President Baquerizo Moreno donated this terrain in order to construct a palace for oficial reunions and ball dances of the army and diplomacy. This was the most exclusive club for wealthy families until 1959. In 1980s was abandoned but totally restored in 2006. Read more ›

The masterpiece of Eclecticism!

The Old Military Circle

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National Assembly of Ecuador

This is the seat of the Legislative Power. This is the place where 130 congressmen create or aprove the laws that rule Ecuador. The building was built in 1959 for an International Meeting that never occurred, but the Congress started functioning here until 2006 when it was transformed in the National Assembly. Read more ›

The House of Democracy

National Assembly of Ecuador

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Bolívar Theater

Inaugurated in 1933 by the wealthy businessmen Carlos and César Mantilla, this was one of the most important theaters and cinemas of Quito for several decades. Unfortunately a fire produced in 1999 destroyed the 70 % of the building. This place is in the memory of locals that remember with nostalgia operas, concerts, plays and movies seen here! Read more ›

Reviving a theater!

Bolívar Theater

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Convento del Carmen Alto

The first Ecuadorian Saint was Mariana de Jesús, a 17th century girl who used to live here until her death in 1645. In 1653 her family donated the old house to the order of the Discalced Carmelites and since then the several generations of noons have lived cloistered until 2013 when after a restoration process the monastery was opened as a museum. Read more ›

An encounter with art and spirituality!

Convento del Carmen Alto

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Weilbauer Museum

This is a small museum created in the Catholic University of Quito. This used to be the collection of a couple of German researchers Eugene and Hilde Weilbauer. The display was also enriched with the investigations of the religious Pedro Porras who dedicated all his life to discover the Pre-Columbian past of the Amazonia and the Andes. Read more ›

An encounter with the Pre-Columbian Past

Weilbauer Museum

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Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño Museum

Jacinto Jijón y Caañaño was a wealthy man whose hobby was the archaeology and history. He traveled to Europe and in 1922 invited the German Max Uhle to investigate about Pre-Columbian Ecuador. Caamaño is considered as one of the founders of Ecuadorian modern archaeology. His family donated all his collection to the Catholic University. Read more ›

Memories of an Americanist!

Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño Museum

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Inti-Ñan Museum

This is one of the most popular museums of Quito, especially for tourists, however locals love to bring their guests here because the explanations provided by the guides make people to understand better about Ecuador and the equator! Read more ›

Step in the Latitude Zero!

Inti-Ñan Museum

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Monastery of Santa Catalina

Santa Catalina is one of the oldest convents of Quito founded in 1613. Its history is envolved in legends and mysteries of several characters that lived here such as the legendary Manuela Sáenz, designated by the government as General of Honor due to her active participation in the Independence. The monastery was closed for more than 400 years. Read more ›

The best kept treasure!

Monastery of Santa Catalina

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Rumipamba Archaeological and Ecological Park

This is a park located on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, the protector mountain and the symbol of the city. Quitenians are very proud of their ancestries and this is the best place to learn about the past. On weekends families like to come to spend some hours in contact with nature and during the week school kids come with their teachers. Read more ›

Discover the origins of Quito!

Rumipamba Archaeological and Ecological Park

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Sacred Valley of Tulipe

This is a valley located in the NW part of Quito, in the middle of the cloud forest on the way to the northern Coast of Ecuador. This is one of the preferred spots chosen by locals from Quito to come on weekends for enjoying nature and culture. Read more ›

The shrine of the water!

Sacred Valley of Tulipe

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Sucre National Theater

This is the oldest theater built in Quito in 1880s in the place where in Colonial times the Spaniards set the butcher's shops. This is the seat of the National Symphonic Orchestra, one of the prides of Ecuador. This was the scenario of the best music concerts and comedy plays performed for more than a century! Read more ›

The Quito's Opera House!

Sucre National Theater

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Mural "Screams of the Memory"

In this place used to be the American Embassy until its moving to the north of the city. This is a symbolic place where locals used to organize demonstrations against US policies and the CIA. The building was transformed in the General Attorney's Office. The area is busy during the week because is surrounded several universities and offices. Read more ›

An artwork done for thinking about!

Mural "Screams of the Memory"

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Metropolitan Cultural Center

This is one of the most emblematic buildings of Quito, whose history started with the arrival of the Jesuits in 1586. Inside this huge cultural complex there are several rooms that show temporary exhibits of art and history as well as the Municipal Library. Read more ›

A building with 4 centuries of history!

Metropolitan Cultural Center

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Palace of the Vice-President

This is the seat of the Vice-President of the Republic and the main office of the Ministry of the Interior. For several years this building was known as the "Post office building", because that was its original function. Read more ›

A jewel in stone!

Palace of the Vice-President

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Metropolitan Cathedral

This is the oldest church built in Quito in 1535, just one year after the Spanish founding of the city. This is a symbol of religiosity and pride for local people and the motif of several legends. The cathedral has witnessed many historical events such as revolts, a massacre, the murder of a bishop and several celebrations. Read more ›

The oldest church of Quito!

Metropolitan Cathedral

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El Sagrario Church

El Sagrario is one of the most popular churches of the Historical District of Quito. There are frequent holy masses and in this church archives are the oldest baptism certificates of the city since 1535. Couples rent int church for weddings and baptisms. Read more ›

A Masterpiece of Stone and Gold!

El Sagrario Church

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Middle of the World

This is the reason why the country was named Ecuador, after the Equator line which divides the Earth in two hemispheres and nowadays pride of Ecuadorian people. The monument is one of the most famous postcards of the country nationwide and abroad. Around the complex there is a town called San Antonio and several residential areas. Weather is warm. Read more ›

Step on two hemispheres!

Middle of the World

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Parque El Ejido

It is located in the current limit between the old-quarter and the new town. There are many offices and commerce around here, so that is the reason why is busy during the week. Every afternoon, its is possible to see old people playing traditional games or workers playing an after-office volleyball. There is a permanent artists' fair every weekend. Read more ›

From Royal pastures to Center of Culture

Parque El Ejido

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Shrine of the Fatherland

Pichincha is the name of the mountain that protects Quito. Atop this massif there are two volcanoes called "Ruku" (Old) and "Guagua" (Young). On the SE slopes of this volcano, the Gen. Antonio José de Sucre led his army against the Spanish troops on May 24th, 1822. This was the definitive liberation of current Ecuador! This site reminds this event! Read more ›

A battle on the slopes of a volcano!

Shrine of the Fatherland

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Church of Santo Domingo

This is one of the oldest churches of Quito, designed by the Spanish architect Francisco Becerra in 1581. the church is is visited by devoted people in every celebration of the Holy Mass. The chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary has a lot of devoted people coming for praying. The square is the scenario of street artists. Read more ›

Art blessed by God!

Church of Santo Domingo

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Church of the Society of Jesus

This is one of the most emblematic churches of Colonial Quito, very famous for its stone carved facade and its impressive interior decorated with a red stucco and gold! This is considered as one of the most important Baroque buildings in Colonial Latin America and pride of locals! Read more ›

A shrine of gold and stone!

Church of the Society of Jesus

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Sanctuary of Our Lady of El Quinche

Our Lady of El Quinche is one of the two patron saints of Ecuador revered by millions of Ecuadorians inside and abroad. Every November there is a huge pilgrimage from Quito to this sanctuary where thousands of people celebrate a "fiesta" with a holy mass and fireworks. Read more ›

The house of the Patron Saint of Ecuador

Sanctuary of Our Lady of El Quinche

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Sucre House Museum