Patrimonio Cultural, Museos y Visitantes en la Ciudad de Cuenca

The present work is one of the few research investigations into the museums of the city of Cuenca, despite the fact that these are institutions that preserve heritage assets and are also tourist attractions. For this reason, a research program was started to study the perceptions that local, national and foreign visitors have about the six museums in Cuenca. The perceptions expressed in spontaneously written comments by ecuadorian and foreign visitors (91 nationalities) in the visitors’ logs at the museums during the year 2016 constitute vital informational input. Using content analysis, impressions recorded by visitors were examined from a qualitative perspective. The study shows that heritage is perceived as an inheritance, is associated with memory, and above all that its conservation is valued to the extent that the continuity of the exhibit is guaranteed, along with the possibility to save its contents for posterity. There is a romantic trend that underlies the comments: that the museum space is where the past remains immutable, through its exhibition.