Casa del Alabado Pre-Columbian Art Museum

Casa del Alabado is a Pre-Columbian art museum in the historic center of Quito, Ecuador. Opened in 2010, it holds a collection of more than 5,000 archaeological pieces, with approximately 500 on permanent display. The museum distinguishes itself through a curatorial approach that treats objects as works of art rather than as archaeological remnants, organizing its galleries thematically rather than chronologically.

The museum occupies a house dating from 1671, one of Quito's oldest buildings. Its name derives from the inscription over the entrance lintel: "ALABADO SEA EL SANTISIMO SACRAMENTO... 1671." The Fundación La Tolita restored the house in 2006, and it opened as the Museo de Arte Precolombino in 2010. Between 2011 and 2013, the Peruvian museologist Christian Mesía Montenegro served as director; he had previously directed Peru's Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia and the Museo Nacional Chavín.

The collection encompasses more than 5,000 archaeological pieces from ancient Ecuadorian cultures. The museum's guiding philosophy privileges aesthetic value over strict chronological or archaeological sequencing. Displays explore cultural aspects including cosmology, ancestor relationships, religious ideas and rituals, and human interaction with the environment. The museological script draws inspiration from the concept of human divinization through contact with natural forces, or apus.

While specific individual masterpieces are not catalogued in the available sources, the permanent display of approximately 500 pieces is distributed across thematic galleries. These rooms serve as representations of how ancient Ecuadorian societies understood their place within cosmic and natural orders.

The building is a 17th-century colonial house situated between the plazoleta de Santa Clara and the Plaza de San Francisco in Quito's historic centeritta. Its facade is notably simple and unadorned. The upper floor features four projecting balconies, while the ground floor contains the main entrance and three shops. The facade is finished with an eave supported by corbels. The structure includes two courtyards.

Casa del Alabado is located in central Quito, Ecuador, with further information available through its official website at http://alabado.org. The museum provides eight exhibit rooms, one room for temporary exhibitions, two workshop rooms, a museum shop, and two courtyards according to English-language sources; Spanish sources alternatively cite fourteen permanent exhibition rooms, one temporary exhibition room, two educational activity rooms, a cafe, and two courtyards, plus customer service areas.