Museo Templo del Sol Pintor Cristobal Ortega Maila

Loved this hidden gem of a place. We just ran into it and were grateful for it. The artist was there, painted for us and drank tea with us. He was so humble and nice. The store inside has a lot of great items, and his art is amazing. He paints only with his hands. Would visit again.

Awesome museum of indigenous inspired artworks by Malia Ortega. There are lots of paintings, representing an entire gamut of motifs, mostly focusing on beauty and nature. The guided tour is a must. Very informative, and at the same time not too busy. Doing the pre-tour ritual, the magnetic/balance exercises and the meditation were all included, and it was an awesome experience.

Very interesting museum that is a work of art itself, feels like entering an ancient temple. Admission is $4 for locals, $6 for gringos. Parking is $1 (shared parking lot with volcano hiking and several gift shops). It was definitely a bit of a money-making enterprise. Don't take the demonstrations too seriously, it's a sales pitch, but still fun. Cristobal Ortega Maila was an extremely prolific and talented artist who worked with many kinds of media, from painting in different styles to sculpture to architecture, much of it rooted in ancient local cultures and traditions, and it is all showcased here. But more than just the art, there is also a presentation (in Spanish) that begins at the top of the tower, describing ancient natural herbal medicine (with samples!), then moving downstairs to explore the design of the building (like many ancient temples would have been) as a way to keep track of the movements of the sun throughout the year, and also of course to pay homage to the sun god Init. The presentation ended in the gift shop with a relaxing aromatherapy session with musical instruments to simulate the sounds of Nature while breathing different scents. All the products demonstrated were available for sale.

Totally worth the visit, I recommend this place. The meditation chamber is an awesome treat. They sell really affordable bracelet's, charms and souvenir's. The tea offered is an energizing potion. I really enjoyed my time there. This is a great opportunity, place for taking pictures. The art work is incredibly breathtaking. Stop by and get a feel of an ancient time in a modern world.

Really interesting place, worth to go. The entrance was 4$. Inside you can buy aromatic oiles, coca leaves, mineral stones and well - painting of master Ortega. We went during weekend and Ortega was there, we could speak to him and he painted a piece of art with fingers in 3 minutes, just in front of us. The only thing I missed was passion of guides, they were reciting monologues by heart, and there was no time for asking questions and we had a lot of them because the tour was full of amazing experiments.

It’s not archeological site , it’s museum. Nice climate about the mountain clouds everywhere in this museum. Get your own car , there are no taxi there. Lucky that I met a nice gentleman he take me back to my hotel.

The best attraction in Quito! Such a unique quirky temple adorned with the fabulous paintings & sculptures of the Ecuadorian artist Juan Ortega. We also got a guided tour in English, a cup of Coca tea & if you go at the weekend you get to meet the charismatic artist himself, watch him paint a painting in 5 mins, and sample his delicious bottled liquor. Bargain. Do not miss this attraction!

Would have been nice if the meditation was longer if they gave information about the history of the place . It was very much centred around selling products