Museo Pumapungo in Azogues

The German kids did a great concert

A must go venue & free! Dont miss the garden out back!

This is a unique museum because it has indoors space, outdoors space that you can explore, garden and semi zoo because there is a space where you will see colorful birds (not a big fan of the small cages thoughand some ducks and fishes by the small lake.Best of all, entrance is free.The museum is walkable if you are staying in the city center.

Very interesting museum with no entrance fee. Very friendly staff who give you a lot of information about cultural, historical and archeological items on display!

Fabulous place. Very well organised.

Fun time for the kids. The shrunken heads are a must see.

Free and worth every penny! So great to have these Inca ruins right in the middle of the city of Cuenca. The exhibits are fascinating. A real feather in Cuenca’s cap.

Closed on Monday, despite different information on the phone

Cool for being a free museum!

Always a great place to watch a show. Music, dance, play, opera. Comfortable seating. Great museum.

Be aware it’s not actually open on a Monday. You’ll get a police officer shutting the door in your face and sent on your way. Rather annoying if you’ve decided to walk there on a rainy afternoon

Beautiful museum. Allot at least 3 hours to walk around the museum and the ruins. Also remember to bring a mask as it is currently necessary in order for entry.

The exhibition includes history about the Ecuadorean and French exploration of the rainforest. However, the description is only available in Spanish, which I find not helpful regarding the many foreign visitors.Upstairs in the museum they show cultural aspects of indigenous tribes, including the art of shrunken heads.The museum’a basement exhibits the former Ecuadorean currency Sucre.

Great spot that is open and free to the public! Definitely great to check out if youre looking to do something local

I really like the brutesque architectural stylings of the exterior of this building and its conveniently located near many other attractions.

The entrance was free. The explanation in the museum was in Spanish most of the time, so we had to use a lot of google translate. But at some part they add explaining in English. The park outside was really beautiful and fun. You can see animals and the inka remains. In general a really nice experience

Very nice museum. Lots of history of different areas of Ecuador. The botanical gardens were lovely as were the bird enclosure. Entrance is free.

Downstairs exhibition is very nice, with a nice photo collection. However the part of the garden that consists of neglected and depressed large birds in small cages was very sad to see. The birds have no room to fly, and their cages are dirty and sharp tools were left on the ground for them to walk on. Clearly the museum doesn’t have the right means to take care of animals, especially large eagles and macaws. You’re a museum, not a zoo. Do better.

It was interesting, but it was a bit sad, that it wasnt explained in englisch and some exhibits werent explained at all.

Great way to pass half a day, nice ruins, beautiful park, free entry!

Excellent museum totally recommended amazing service and breathtaking views

Very nice experience. Ideal to take your kids.Wear comfortable shoes and a cap. The photos were taken outside at the archeological field.

The most beautiful museum we’ve ever experienced. Outdoor Inca ruins with incredible photo opportunities. So worth the visit!

Loved it.

History, anthropology and archaeology museum. Very interesting if in Cuenca.

The highlight of the museum is the shrunken heads from Shura people. Really got intrigued to learn more about that.

Bring your vaccine info to enter. There aren’t that much to see, so first floor is kind of the incas building excavation story, the basement is a brief history of the colonial history and the Ecuador money when it was in circulation. On the Wednesday morning I visited there are more armed security and cleaning crew than there are visitors. Maybe I am the only one. The only information that’s presented in English is a small section on the top floor, the section on Shuar tribe and their mythology rituals of killing male enemies and shrinking their heads, as women children white gringos are below their status to be shriveled and sun dried (hew!and blame the killing on the Arutam creator of life/deaths. Lol it’s interesting but funny how the museum think the only thing foreigners want to read is the druggy prt hallucinogens and mummies. The other tribes clothing and ethnic habitats are presented without any english. Even the English part was half blocked by a sliding plastic puece, completely unnecessary requires you to touch it to slide it over the spanish part and back vice versa. It needs some Covid updating, just remove the damn plastic piece lol. Also a circular wherl of fortunes is there but without any instructions so it looks like they mis designed and prt of it is underneath the setup. Anyhow good effort, tge motion sensor light following visitors is understandable but not the security with their sticks and weapons, this isn’t the bank next door. Anyhow it needs some help.

Great museum, with a tremendous variety. Take your time to visit!

Although a bit out of the way, Pumapungo should be high on your list of things to do in Cuenca.Entry is free - just sign in at the entrance. This is one of the most extensive historical/cultural museums in Cuenca. Make sure you explore the different floors, which include exhibits on art, money, culture and clothing of the indigenous tribes, and even shrunken heads. Although you may not need to spend a ton of time there, the museum is definitely worth a walk through.But thats not all. Between the museum and the orchestra building, you can pass to the back side of Pumapungo to visit the hillside Cañari ruins and park.This was apparently a sacred site for this powerful tribe. Although no full structures have been preserved, you can see the outline of their buildings and terraced agriculture, an underground cave, and water system.As you continue down the hill, youll find a large display garden of the many local crops and native plants. There is also a small outdoor aviary with stunning birds from the region as well as a few llamas on the hillside. (The lower gate to the riverwalk is no longer open so you will need to hike a short hill to enter and exit.)For more recommendations on what to do in and around Cuenca, find our blog posts by searching: "Intentional Travelers Cuenca"

Well done exhibits of the width and spand of culture and development of Ecuador. A delightful visit.

I like this museum because of all the detailed information about the maps and the history of the different cultures. I cant remember all the different types of names of the different tribes that were along the coast and in the country but I can definitely say it was an interesting. unfortunately the reason I gave it one star less was because majority of the sections didnt have any English and to tell you the truth my Spanish wasnt the best. so I have to warn you if you cannot read Spanish very well this might not be the best museum for you but that being said I still did love the displays and love the imagery

The indoor museum is pretty small but pretty cool. There is an excellent mural on the wall, a variety of ancient artifacts displayed on the other walls, and a super cute exhibit of the regions history told through miniatures or diorama type setups replete with terrain, structures, and little figurines going about daily life in different historical periods. As a budding miniaturist architect myself (take me down to Tiny Town), I sure enjoyed this playful little representations of the past. But the best part of the museum is the outdoor area. There are ancient ruins, llamas you can walk right up to, big birds (sadlytrapped in small cages, beautiful garden areas, little sitting places, a little pond with some ducks in it, good views of the city. Its a really lovely place to spend a couple hours. Theres no entrance fee, either, so theres no reason not to go to Pumapungo! Its good, dog.

A bit of everything. From traditional cultures to modern artists. From ancient ruins to a small zoo. It was easy to spend a couple of hours here and enjoy the displays as well as the beautiful grounds. And its free so you cant beat the price!

Walking through de ruins behind the museum is a blast! A lot of things to see in there too but no text in English, only Spanish... So, hard to understand interesting stories about the Incas!

Nice museum nice ruins in the city

Incredible! I only had two hours. Had gone through the ethnography exhibit upstairs on a previous visit. Spent too much time looking at the money exhibit on the ground floor. Had no idea how much there was outside, so just raced through less than a quarter of the rest before closing. Besides the ruins there are an extensive ethnobotanical garden and an aviary. Signing included barcodes for your phone to read for more info. If you have bad knees like me it wouldnt hurt to bring your walking sticks. I had the luck of visiting on a gorgeous day! And all this for FREE.

Interesting museum with a fascinating display of historic currencies and excellent exhibit of indigenous cultures. The grounds are a beautiful park with Inca terraces, a garden of Ecuadorian fruits, vegetables and flowers and an Avery with parrots and raptors. Well worth repeated visits as the season changes.

Very interesting museum, especially etnologia at first floor.

The museum in itself is nice but you have very quickly walked around and seen everything, partly because there isnt that much to see and partly because there arent always enough information provided to actually appreciate the art to its fullest. Still a nice stop if your in town and have time but you dont have to necessarily make time for it.

This is a nice enough museum. It is free so it is worth going. Also, the outdoor section is quite nice. There are nice gardens and old ruins. Unfortunately there are some birds of prey kept in small cages. Inside, there is a mint museum in the basement and an interesting indigenous exhibit on the second floor with shrunken heads.

It has 2 museums one inside and one outside. Its free. Outside you walk at your own pace , it has some ruin a little poo ark llamas you can feed and a small garden that shows what was grown now and back then a small botanical garden and a small birds refuge. The whole place is very picturesque.

Really cool place to start your adventure in Cuenca Ecuador because it gives you an idea of the whole culture of Ecuador not just Cuenca. The garden and birds that they keep here are really nice, its small but worthwhile. They also keep a few llamas and you can get up close to them.

Great museum with multiple layers, art collections, expositions and installations ranging different eras and styles. But the nightlight is definitely the archaeological park surrounding it. Beautiful, breathtaking landscape in the heart of the city.

This is a must see if you come to Cuenca. Very nice Museum. The gardens and outside are awesome. Very nice display and variety of Birds. You then climb a winding path and then inside for 3 stories of culture exibits.

Exhibit on the top floor provides a nice overview of many of the cultural groups in Ecuador. Also dont miss the ruins and garden outside the museum.

Amazing museum. Also, it has some animals outside.

The guide was excellent and the historic remains were impressive

Great place to see some of Ecuadors history. The Inca ruins were pretty cool, and the scenery is beautiful. There us also a nice collection of birds to look at. The whole thing is completely free, which you cant beat.

even though I didnt get to see the second floor I was impressed with the coin museumPlus its free.Good place to visit

Great place to see local ruins and art while in Cuenca. It seemed like some of the exhibits were closed when I visited but I was still able to see a lot. The grounds behind the museum are the real prize and encompass a lot of different things in about a 45 minute walk. You begin at the ruins and make your way to the gardens and finally end up at a beautiful bird display. A must visit location in Cuenca.