Where Quito’s History Finds a New Home

Across from the Santa Clara Monastery, whose bells have marked Quito’s mornings since the 1500s, stands a house that has lived many lives. Once home to the city’s first covered market, this 19th-century residence has been reborn as Casa Santa Clara, an award-winning boutique hotel in the heart of the Historic Center.

The Santa Clara Market, once the heart of daily life in Quito’s Old Town.

Lovingly restored by Ecuadorian architects MCM+A, the house preserves the bones of the past while opening them to light, comfort, and design. The project earned both the city’s Ornato Prize and a Gubbio Award Honorable Mention for its work in heritage restoration.

But Casa Santa Clara isn’t just about preservation; it’s about participation. Together with neighbors like the Monasterio de Santa Clara and Museo del Alabado, the house forms part of a wider movement to bring this plaza back to life — a cultural ecosystem where history, art, and community meet.

The Santa Clara Monastery, founded in 1596 — a quiet witness to Quito’s centuries of change.

Casa Santa Clara beside the 16th-century Santa Clara Monastery, with Quito’s iconic Virgen del Panecillo watching over the plaza.

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Where Quito’s History Finds a New Home

Your story in Quito

Begins Here