Museo de la Ciudad - Quito History Museum
The museum, Museo de la Ciudad, right across from Carmen Alto Church exists for understanding the history of Quito - making a tour mandatory. The building itself dates back to the 16th century...beginning as Hospital Juan de Dios. Every hospital had its chapel and morgue. This hospital attended orphans and the homeless in addition to the sick. - Sidebar - Hospital was derived from the word hospitality. - Sidebar - Open Tuesday through Sunday - for a minimal fee, you may propel into another realm, explained to you bit by bit by a local guide. You will emerge appreciating the colonial city in a deeper way. Tools, clothes and so many other things of long ago make their statement. A very simple, rustic, yet gripping way of life greets you in haunting displays. The story of how a culture - wrapped around a faith now almost extinct throughout the world - overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles - predominates, but can't be explained. That beacon of faith, if you look in the right places, still breathes strong in Quito albeit somewhat diluted but still solid.
Include this museum in your tour, as it connects to Arco de la Reina. Reina de Los Angeles Church - the oldest space of the tour - sadly no longer serves the people, stopped cold by the Church's enemies...yet lives on to give undeniable witness.
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