Through careful observation of the details hidden in certain pieces of the Chorrera culture, we explore the technical virtuosity of the artisans of the past, the aesthetic value of their representations and their extraordinary technological contributions.

From an ecological and environmental perspective, this tour addresses the relationship that pre-Columbian societies maintained with different species of local fauna in the territory that is now Ecuador. At the same time, it questions the turn this relationship has taken in the present, paying special attention to endangered species.

Explore the practices and beliefs around agriculture in ancient times. This tour addresses the indigenous agricultural festivals of the present, their origin, syncretism and connection to the pre-Columbian world.

One of the most present cultures within the collection held by the Museo de Arte Precolombino Casa del Alabado, will be the protagonist of a specialized tour in which we explore its main characters and the aesthetic richness showcased by its ceramics.

Myths are a source of memory and resilience of indigenous peoples and nationalities. In addition to activating powerful imaginaries, they act as a fabric that solidifies, evidences, materializes and perpetuates identities. This tour traces relationships between archaeological objects and stories that give an account of multiple ways of representing the world.

“Huaca” is the Quechua term used to name important elements in the spirituality of pre-Columbian cultures that populated the Andes. The tour proposes a reading of miniatures, stones and other objects of ritual use from the perspective of Andean sacredness.

This visit explores the multiple ways in which Pre-Columbian cultures related to death. Starting from their funeral constructions, their proximity to dwelling spaces, and the interaction between the living and the death, we reflect on the cult of the ancestors in the past. 

This architectonic tour explores Casa del Alabado’s history. Through its patios, facades, stone basings and columns, its adobe walls, balconies and banisters, we recall memories about the communities living in the Santa Clara and San Roque neighborhoods, as well as the urban legends that make Quito a diverse city.

The shapes and patterns that pre-Columbian societies recorded on ceramics continue to awaken our imagination about the past. The strength of the seal lies in its capacity to transmit images and carry coded messages (Cummins 1994, pp. 152-157). Whoever owns the seal not only owns the object, but also the message, the power to transmit it, to identify himself through it and to leave his mark on different surfaces.

Art, and in particular pre-Columbian art, is constructed through languages that are often untranslatable. This tour addresses the senses and meanings of these languages, embodied in emblematic pieces from the collection held by El Alabado.

This tour invites you to reflect on the details and secrets of a selection of iconic pieces of the Valdivia culture. It offers a moment of contemplation and reflection on their ways of life, both in everyday and ceremonial life, to understand their influence in the collective identity of the present.

This visit builds bridges between the museum’s collection, the seventeenth-century colonial house it inhabits and the people that visit it. In this tour, art, archaeology, history and anthropology talk to each other in a trip across the spiritual and ritual practices of past societies.