Central Bank National Museum

The museums belonging to the Central Bank and Casa de la Cultura complex rank among the most important in the country. Located in the Mariscal district, they’re a must-see attraction. As part of the complex, the Museo Nacional del Banco Central del Ecuador is a great place to start any exploration of Ecuador. It offers a wide cultural and artistic perspective on Ecuador’s proud history — and some exhibits, such as an extraordinary ceremonial gold mask, will make your chin drop.

Most impressive of the bank’s museums is the Sala de Arqueología, with its dioramas and well-displayed artifacts from the pre-ceramic era (4000 BC) through the end of the Inca era (1533 AD). Techniques for working gold and platinum were astoundingly advanced for their times. Also fascinating is the uncanny similarity of some of the museum’s objects to those found in Asia, and in Japan in particular, which leads to speculation that in ancient times there were links between the cultures across the Pacific Ocean. As for Incan gold itself, in the Sala de Oro, nobody can fail to be impressed by the beauty and sheer weight of the body adornments. Though not to be condoned, it’s not surprising that the Spanish became carried away in their cruel quest for El Dorado.

Further sections on colonial, Republican and contemporary art give a quite different perspective on Ecuadorian culture, as do the separate Casa de la Cultura museums of musical instruments, Ecuadorian art (particularly Eduardo Kingman's indigenismo canvases) and traditional dress from indigenous cultures.