HOTEL, HACIENDA, HOSTERIA, CONVENTION CENTER, ECUADOR

La Cienega hotel is one of best country inns of Ecuador. Situated near the slopes of the majestic Cotopaxi volcano and its National Park, this mansion has been the scene of important happenings in the scientific and social history of the country.

Among the important celebrities that have resided at the hacienda are Charles Marie de la Condamine, a French scientist who participated in the Geodesic Mission (1736-44) that determined the true shape of the earth and laid the path towards the development of a universal system of measure - the meter; and Alexander Von Humbolt, German naturalist who studied Cotopaxi's volcanic activity (1802) as well as its unique alpine flora.

Manuel Matheu y Herrera, Francisco Xavier and José Xavier de Ascázubi, members of the manor house, who were fervent defenders of the cause for independence (1810) prior to Simon Bolívar`s battles.

During the Republican era, various presidents stayed at this hacienda, such as Juan José Flores (Ecuador`s first president), Gabriel García Moreno (founder of Quito`s astronomical observatory, South America`s oldest), Leonidas Plaza Gutiérrez (father of Galo Plaza Lasso, also former president and Secretary General of the O.A.S), and José María Velasco Ibarra (his five presidential administrations have been a landmark in Ecuadorean history).

HOSTERIA LA CIENEGA
Cordero 1442 y Amazonas
QUITO, ECUADOR
TELEPHONE: (593) (2) 541 337 or 549 126
FAX: (593) (2) 228 820
E-MAIL: hcienega@uio.satnet.net