La Ronda

La Ronda Quito street

The real name of this place is Juan de Dios Morales street, however, people got used to calling it  La Ronda street and that is how it is now known among the Quito people, being the most outstanding tourist spot in the Historic Center of Quito . This site is located south of the Plaza de Santo Domingo following the Guayaquil street, here the bars, restaurants and shops come alive at night and the place is recognized for it. From this point you can see a beautiful landscape where we can turn our eyes to the splendid El Panecillo .            

La Ronda Neighborhood, Quito

La Ronda en Quito un sector privilegiado en la ciudad por ser declarado Patrimonio Cultural de la Humanidad. 

La Ronda Quito

La Ronda in Quito a privileged sector in the city for being declared Cultural Heritage of Humanity 

• La Ronda in Quito Address

  • It is located exactly in the Historic Center of the City of Quito - Pichincha Province - Ecuador , on Morales Street between Venezuela and Guayaquil.       

• La Ronda Quito how to get there
  • The closest public transport stop is the Integrated Trolleybus System which is located in the Plaza de Santo Domingo and bears his name.    
  • We take the integrated trolleybus system and disembark at the Cumandá stop and find it on the western side.
• La Ronda Creation Date

  • Historically the conformation of this neighborhood is located between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its renovation was started in the year 2006.  

• La Ronda Extension
  • It extends from the former Cumandá Terminal to Boulevard May 24. La Ronda Schedule
  • Restaurants, bars, discos from 3:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. (during the week) and from 3:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. during the weekend.
  • Galleries, souvenir shops , tourist and cultural information stands from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

La Ronda Restaurants

Currently there are some restaurants with typical Ecuadorian food, literary and bohemian coffee shops, a legendary picanteria, as well as a traditional candy shop in Quito and an orphanage. Manufacturers of decorative candles, leftovers, healers, musicians, can be found on La Ronda street along with the famous canelazos from Quito and the delicious empanadas de viento.

Landmarks of La Ronda

Of the various places, two stand out in particular: House 707 and House of the Arts of La Ronda. The first is under the direction of the Salvation Fund of the Cultural Heritage of Quito (FONSAL) and has served as the setting for numerous free artistic presentations, privileging Ecuadorian music.

The House of the Arts of La Ronda is a cultural center that was created with the purpose of hosting artistic exhibitions and creative spaces for future artists, in other words, it seeks to rescue the creative spirit of La Ronda. It is located in houses 989 and 999.

Places to visit in La Ronda 

• The constructions are modest with balconies, with interior patios, terraces, with corridors and rooms that look towards a generally cobbled central courtyard, hallways, many of them with quice doors, the walls of the houses are smooth and with few openings.
• La Ronda at night: The street is illuminated and an air of celebration is lived, but in the traditional way. The bars and restaurants offer live music, as well as delicious food and drinks. 
• La Rondalia Quiteña: Is one of the first bars in the traditional street. Upon entering, the striking are the tables (old sewing machines, those that had a pedal with glass on the top). Another of the curiosities of the bar is the drink called "crazy water", a concoction made with ten herbs.   
• Empanadas de morocho: One of the typical dishes that you can taste.  
• Empanadas de viento an exquisite pie stuffed with a lot of cheese, you can taste its flavor. 
• El Horno de Leña Restaurant: Offers food cooked in firewood, the specialty is Pinllo Hens. 
• The cinnamon sticks: Ideal for the cold, the cinnamon is a mixture of cinnamon with liquor. Another option to get warm is the fruit wine, which also offers The Wood Oven. The fruit is fermented with honey, grapes are not used, only blackberry or pineapple. 
• Tinsmith Silva: In this place you can find toys made of metal, such as small kitchens with their respective pots, refrigerators, mini showers, also chandeliers and lighthouses. All are handmade, with old machines that model the metal. 
• House 707 , is under the direction of the Salvation Fund of the Cultural Heritage of Quito (FONSAL) and has served as the setting for numerous free artistic presentations, privileging Ecuadorian music.  
• The House of the Arts of La Ronda: A cultural center that was created with the purpose of hosting artistic exhibitions and creative spaces for future artists, in other words, it seeks to rescue the creative spirit of La Ronda. It is located in houses 989 and 999. 
• The Chapel of the Theft: On January 19, 1649, four thieves entered the temple of the convent of Santa Clara and stole a trunk, which they believed was made of silver. The trunk contained the Blessed Sacrament in a valuable cup; Yes, it was silver. The next day, the trunk appeared next to the ravine of Ullaguanga Huayco, broken and with the wafers around it. The silver cup was gone. This sacrilegious act moved the peaceful Quito and united the believers in novenas and processions begging for the appearance of the cup. Months later, someone revealed the identity of the thieves, who were sentenced to hang, drag and dismember. And in case anyone could forget that episode, the remains of the Tabernacle were built, which is now known as the Robo Chapel, currently located next to 24 de Mayo Avenue. 
• The avenue May 24 : The avenue was designed by European aesthetic canons, as boulevard and mall. Its surroundings were residential and in its vicinity modern buildings were built. The new tree-lined road that was built was a place of forced walk for the Quito people. The boulevard was the most modern road of the twenties of the last century. In it, asphalt paving was used for the first time.    

History of La Ronda

Before the Conquest, it was a path of the Inca city that started from one of the Pichincha streams, called Jatuna , and carried on along the Quebrada de los Gallinazos, or Ullaguanga Huayco. At that time, this road served the old settlers to access the water of the chorrera and use it in domestic issues.

It will be in colonial times that several Spaniards located the gardens of their houses on the edge of the ravine and it was contaminated. But time would pass and for the s. XVI the creek would come to serve as a quarry, by the end of the s. XVIII both indigenous, mestizos and whites would begin to build and populate this street, and for the s. XIX the creek would be filled to become the current Av. 24 de Mayo.

But it would be from the s. XVII that La Ronda would begin to take on the reputation of the home of artisans and artists, a refuge for bohemians and misunderstandings, the latter especially since the end of the s. XIX and beginning of s. XX where bars, canteens and brothels swarmed along the entire street.

In this street they inhabited and toured several historical, peculiar and typical characters: from some of the best sculptors and artists of the Colony, the best bakers, passing through assassins, historians, precursors of independence like Eugenio Espejo, to crazy people, musicians, poets , painters and others.

By the end of the last century La Ronda was deteriorated, its houses had not received maintenance and thus, one of the most lively sectors of Quito fell into oblivion. But some years ago the Municipality began the restoration of this neighborhood and nowadays it is trying to revive the bohemian, artistic and cultural integrator spirit of La Ronda.

 Tourist Places of Quito that may interest you 

• Quito Historic Center
• El Panecillo 
• La Ronda
• Church of the Company of Jesus
• Seven Crosses Street
• The Basilica of the National Vote 
• The Metropolitan Cathedral of Quito
• Museum of the City
• Alberto Mena Caamaño Museum of Art and History 
• Sucre House Museum 
• Camilo Egas Museum of the Central Bank
• National Museum of the History of Medicine 
• Miguel de Santiago Museum of the Convent of San Agustín 
• Geobotanical Reserve of Pululahua   
• Tumbaco Central Park 
• Churches and Chapels 
• Cununyacu Municipal Spa 
• Ilaló Volcano
• El Chaquiñán 
• Tulipe Ceremonial Center 
• Hidden Route
• Cascade of Perucho
• Eco Route Paseo del Quinde - Cycling
• Quito Cable Car
• Carolina Park
• Vulcano Park