The Ilinizas University Residence is the first university residence founded in San Francisco de Quito and along Ecuador. It was built in 1957. The Doctor Juan Larrea Holguín and the priest José Giner Puche installed the residence in two rented houses in Baquerizo Moreno No. 446 Street. There started the work of the Opus Dei in Ecuador.

In 1959 a generous person donated a piece of land in Toledo 656 and Lerida street, where is the Residence actually.

Despite of the architectonic design, Luis Borobio left to the Residence many paints and the remembered image of the located in the old chapel. Nowadays, this triptych has been removed to the other side of the house; this is due to small size for the church of the Residence.

Maybe the most remembered paint of Luis Borobio was the image of the hunter (almost of natural size) that in the old house was in the stairs, and now it has been reproduced an identical in the second floor of the new see.

In that time we initiated the custom of bring to the House personalities of the culture, honorable and famous professionals who gives conferences and seminars, people from politics and sports, or professionals from the press, for take with them an informal meetings or a cultural activity. In that sense, Ilinizas Intercollegiate Hall of Residence has begun their Visitors’ Book from the very first years of his foundation. For visit our Visitors’ Book, click here.

The years passed and new rooms were built, a new audience and some other installations. The posterior part of the land was sold and urbanized. Our old residents of the 70s, 80s and 90s years may remember that the house had this facade:

But the house in those times had already accomplished some year, and according to the residents of that time, when a car passed along the street the floor shook. So, in order to lodge more people and to offer more comfortable spaces, we decided to throw down the old house and build a new one over the same piece of land.

And nowadays, after 50 years of great history, we have the great house Ilinizas, more solid and with the best path in Quito.

Note: actually the Residence is administrated by the Corporation of Ilinizas Culture, which is and institution (sin fines de lucro) which main objective is to provide a spiritual formation (fomación) of the universities so that they could bring out in their academic qualities, human and spirituals. The human formation and spiritual of the Residence is in charge of the Opus Dei Prelature.