Ecuador Archives and Libraries

Archives
Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco – Historical Archive (Archivo Historico "Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco") Carrion 10-40 y Av. 10 de Agosto Quito Telephone: 593 2 299 3284/299 3285 Website: Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco – Historical Archive Website #2: Historical Archive 'Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco'


 * The files that rest in the Historical Archive 'Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco' of the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry were included in the Unesco Memory of the World Register, reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador. Among these documents are 69 volumes containing the files of 2,445 cases of naturalizations of foreign citizens between 1899 and 1968.

Historical Archive of Guayas (Archivo Histórico del Guayas) Calle Alberto Borges y Av. de las Américas # 1126 antes de llegar al aeropuerto Guayaquil Telephone: 593 4 239 4441 Website: Archivo Histórico del Guayas oficial Website #2: Guayas Historical Archive (Ecuador)


 * This Archive includes five Funds that are: Protocols, Trials, Historical Library, Library of the Historical Research Center of Guayaquil, and Microfilms. Of these, the first two are of interest, whose extreme dates are 1635 to 1888, with a total of 8,000 documents. There are, however, 120 unclassified files, and there are only inventories from 1830 to 1888.

National Archives of Ecuador (Archivo Nacional del Ecuador) Av. 10 de Agosto N11-539 y Santa Prisca Quito Telefax: 593 2 228 0431 Email: [mailto:archivohistoriconacional.ahn@culturaypatrimonio.gob.ec archivohistoriconacional.ahn@culturaypatrimonio.gob.ec] Website: Ecuador National Archive Website #2: Archivo Histórico Nacional del Ecuador


 * The National Archive is the leading institution in the custody and administration of Documentary Heritage, protecting and caring for the country's written memory and establishing technical rules and procedures for archival description.

Libraries
Aurelio Espinosa Polit Ecuadorian Library (Biblioteca Quito Aurelio Espinosa Polit Ecuadorian Library) Cotocollao, José Nogales N69-22 y Francisco Arcos Quito 170101 Telephone: 593 2 249 1156 Email: [mailto:info@beaep.ec info@beaep.ec] Website: Aurelio Espinosa Polit Museum and Library, Museums, Culture Website #2: Centro Cultural Biblioteca Ecuatoriana Aurelio Espinosa Pólit

Municipal Library "Federico González Suárez" (Biblioteca Municipal “Federico González Suárez”) Centro Cultural Metropolitano García Moreno N3-151 Quito 170130 Telephone: 593 2 395 2300 ext. 15508/15509 Website: Municipal Central Library "Federico González Suárez" Website #2: Biblioteca Municipal Federico González Suárez

National Library of Ecuador (Biblioteca Nacional Del Ecuador Eugenio Espejo) Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana - Benjamín Carrión, Avenida 6 de Diciembre Quito Sodiro y Valparaíso (esquina) Quito 170524 Telephone: 593 2 381 4550 Email: [mailto:info@bne.gob.ec info@bne.gob.ec] Website: The National Library of Ecuador will function at the Eugenio Espejo Convention Center Website #2: Biblioteca Nacional Eugenio Espejo Website #3: History and libraries: National Library of Ecuador Website #4: The National Library will operate in its new headquarters from January Website #5: The National Library of Ecuador Eugenio Espejo

Pablo Palacio Library (Biblioteca Pablo Palacio) CAv. Amazonas N34-451 Quito 170102 Telephone: 593 2 396 1484 Website: Biblioteca Pablo Palacio Website #2: Pablo Palacio Library, a different way to read

Museums
Alberto Mena Caamaño Museum (Museo Alberto Mena Caamaño) García Moreno 887 and Espejo Quito 170401 Pasaje Espejo No.1147 Quito Telephone: 593 2 395 2300 Email: [mailto:areadeguiasmuseo@gmail.com areadeguiasmuseo@gmail.com] Website: Amazing Reminders of the Past at Alberto Mena Caamaño Museum Website #2: Alberto Mena Caamaño Museum Website #3: Museo Alberto Mena Caamaño


 * The exhibits at the Alberto Mena Caamaño Museum afford visitors a wonderful opportunity to gain insight into the art and culture of the people of Quito. Much of the art donated by Alberto Mena Caamaño represents colonial art from the 16th and 17th centuries, featuring renowned artists such as Miguel de Santiago and Joaquín Pinto. The museum also features a number of contemporary artworks, some of which have won the prestigious Mariano Aguilera Award for sculpture and painting. The museum features both permanent and temporary exhibitions. The permanent exhibition, “From Quito to Ecuador”, portrays the history of Quito from 1700 through to 1830 when the new Republic of Ecuador gained independence from Gran Colombia. It also covers the life and achievements of Pedro Vicente Maldonado (1704-1748), the Ecuadorian scientist who collaborated with the French Geodesic Mission in their quest to measure the roundness of the Earth, as well as the length of a degree of longitude at the Equator – a huge undertaking considering they were using 18th century technology.

Guayaquil Municipal Museum (Museo Municipal) Calle Sucre entre calle Chile y calle, Pedro Carbo Telephone: 593 4 259 4800/99 703 0332 Website: Municipal Museum of Guayaquil (Heritage) Website #2: Municipal Museum of Guayaquil, Museums, Culture Website #3: Guayaquil Municipal Museum Website #4: MUMG - Museo Municipal de Guayaquil


 * The Municipal Museum contains four halls that all feature a specific aspect of the city’s history. The first hall displays archaeological pieces that have been collected in and around Guayaquil. It is this sort of archaeological evidence that gives researchers necessary and vital information about the original inhabitants that occupied this location. Not only does it tell them about how early inhabitants lived and what they ate, but it has also provided insight into the origin of the city’s name.

Museum of the City (Museo de la Ciudad) García Moreno S1-47 y Rocafuerte / Bulevar 24 de Mayo y García Moreno Quito Telephone: 593 2 228 3882 ext. 100-102 Email: [mailto:comunicacionmdc@fmcquito.gob.ec comunicacionmdc@fmcquito.gob.ec] Email #2: [mailto:cristina.medrano@fmcquito.gob.ec cristina.medrano@fmcquito.gob.ec] Website: The City Museum Website #2: City Museum of Quito (Museo de la Ciudad) Tours Website #3: Museo de la Ciudad, Museums, Culture Website #4: Museum of the City


 * The City Museum is a non-formal education space that promotes intercultural and intergenerational dialogue, reflection and debate, through the different themes developed in its exhibitions and permanent artistic and cultural programming. In addition, it contributes to the development of the communities, promotes the recognition and revaluation of the living cultural heritage of the Metropolitan District of Quito.

National Museum of Ecuador (Museo Nacional) Avenida Patria (between Avenida 6 de Diciembre and Avenida 12 de Octubre) Quito Telephone: 593 2 381 4550 Ext. 6000 Email: [mailto:contacto.muna@culturaypatrimonio.gob.ec contacto.muna@culturaypatrimonio.gob.ec] Website: MuNa Website #2: Museo Nacional


 * Located in the circular, glass-plated, landmark building of the Casa de la Cultura is one of the country’s largest collections of Ecuadorian art, with magnificent works of pre-Hispanic and colonial religious art. The museum collection includes more than 1000 ceramic pieces dating from 12,000 BC to AD 1534, with highlights being ‘whistle bottles’ from the Chorrera culture, figures showing skull deformation practiced by the Machalilla culture, wild serpent bowls from the Jama-Coaque and ceramic representations of tzantzas (shrunken heads). The ‘coin axes’ from the Milagro-Quevedo culture and the famous ceremonial stone chairs of the Manteños culture are also interesting. Displays in the Sala de Oro (Gold Room) include a magnificent radiating golden sun mask. Archaeological exhibits include arrowheads from Ecuador’s first nomadic hunter-gatherers, the Valdivia culture (Ecuador’s first settled agriculturalists) and the Inca.