Casa del Alabado Pre-Columbian Art Museum — Attraction in Centro Histórico

I confess I regularly dream of time travel, and even though my ancestors are from Italy, I cannot remember once imagining a trip to Ancient Rome. After visiting La Casa del Alabado, I have added a new destination to my time travel bucket list: Valdivia culture 3800-1500 BCE.

This oldest art in the museum is from this time period from a people who were comfortably settled on the Southern coast of Ecuador. The art from this period is striking because of the many figures of women and the geometric designs in the minimalist designs.

They carved stone with a confident restraint, shaping faces with just a few lines—two eyes, a nose, and the hint of a mouth—yet somehow managing to convey emotion, presence, even humor. The ceramic figures, many of them women, stand or sit with poise, their bodies rounded, stylized, and unmistakably human. Some have ornate hairstyles or headdresses, others cradle their bellies or press their hands to their chests, as if frozen mid-thought or mid-prayer.

As I wandered through the galleries, I felt less like I was looking at artifacts and more like I was being watched by ancestors—playful, proud, unbothered by the millennia that separate us. The lighting, the quiet, and the careful curation of the space all work together to make La Casa del Alabado feel more like a sacred site than a museum. You don’t walk through it—you pass through it, like a portal.

By the time I reached the stone sculptures from later cultures—tall, monolithic, faces reduced to bold curves—I was convinced. Time travel isn’t just fantasy. It’s what happens when the past is given room to speak. And here, in this restored colonial house in the heart of Quito, the ancient voices are loud, clear, and full of life.

La Casa del Alabado is not just a museum; it’s a doorway. I walked out curious to know more...

Rarely have I been so captivated by the contents of a museum, by the lighting and creative displays themselves, and indeed, by the building! Much of the art contained herein is practically postmodern in design and conception even while squarely ensconced in prehistoric antiquity--a paradox uniquely captured by the ingenious lighting and displays designed for their our viewing pleasure and understanding.

The architect who has masterminded the renovation of this charming colonial home in order to draw the visitors attention to the artifacts on display has created a masterpiece worthy of our careful study and prolonged enjoyment. I shall return many times to the timeless beauty of this home for art, and to take time for musing, dreaming and contemplation. Highly...

My wife, Lynn, and I spent the morning visiting this fabulous museum. We were greeted by two very friendly and very professional curators, one of whom gave us an excellent tour of the museum. Educationally, we tend to focus on the Incan culture because of its rich history and, of course, Machu Picchu but there were several other advanced cultures in the region per-Colombian and pre-Incan. The coastal cultures—Valdivia, Chorrera, and Jama-Coaque—are the most represented, at this museum, but adding to these are significant pieces from twenty other cultures who populated ancient Ecuador before the arrival of the Incan Empire between 1440 and 1530 AD. This museum is definitely worth a visit. I highly recommend this museum...