EQUATORIAL LINE or MIDDLE OF THE WORLD

Middle of the world 

Close to Quito the capital

The 30-meter-tall monument was constructed between 1979 and 1982 by Pichincha´s Council to replace an older, smaller monument built by Government of Ecuador.

The monument was built to commemorate the first geodesic Mission of the French Academy of Sciences, led by Louis Godin, Pierre Bouguer and Charñes Marie de La Condamine, who, in the year 1736, conducted experiments to tete the flattening at the poles of the characteristic shape of the Earth, by comparing the distance between a degree meridian in the equatorial zone to anotehr level measures in Sweden.

The pyramidal monument, with each side facing a cardinal direction is topped by a globe wich es 4.5 meterd in diameter and weighs 5 tons. Inside the monument is a smalll museum that displays a variety of indigenous items pertaining to Ecuadorian culture: clothing, descriptions of the various ethnic gropus, and examples of the activities.

INTIÑAN SOLAR MUSEUM

200M northeast of the Ethnographic Museum Monument is a local private attraction, known as the Intiñañ Solar Museum, reportedly built to mark the Equator, although modern measurements suggest that it no longer does.

Except for the exhibitions of Ecuaforian culture, the museum is an amusement for credulous tourist. Tour guides and visitors demostrate tricks wich are supposedly possible only on the Equator, such as water flowing both counter-clockwise down a drain due to Coriolis effect, balancing eggs on end, or weakenning muscles due to latitude.

Something interesting it is the guide explanation, talking about the indigenous customs, as the rock clock they used to use for the time, calling CHISI = afternoon, TUTA MANTA = morning, PAJTA = midday, they used to watch it one side 6 months and the rest of the year the other side. The time is very exact using the shadow that the sun produce.

In the kitchen

the bedroom

Other part of the museum offers more information about jungle traditions and it´s showing some animals and weird traditions.

It is possible for visitor practice as the native from the jungle the Cervatana, a way to hunt animals

PANECILLO, Hill

PANECILLO hill in  Quito

3000 mts on the sea level

It´s a sculpture of  a madonna or Virgen María in 30 mts, it´s a replica of  one that is in the San Francisco Church, called Legarda´s Virgen the sculter of the colonial age, built on 45 meters tall stone monument of a madonna wich was assembled on a high pedestal on the top of Panecillo hill. it is made of seven thousand pieces of aluminium. The monument was inaugurated on March 28, 1976 .

Legarda Virgen  in San Francisco

Legarda´s Virgen 

View of the hill from another hill

Vista de la Cima de la Libertad o Templo de la Patria, donde hay un museo con los uniformes y armas usadas en la batalla de Pichincha para obtener la libertad del yugo español

The virgin stands on top of a globe and is stepping on a snake, wich is a classic madonna iconography. Less traditional are the wings. Locals claim that she is the only one in the world with wings like an angel. 

Let´s see the view of Quito from this hill

In December it´s used as the stage for Christmas scene