Quito

Today we had a a whirlwind tour of Quito!
Quito is the capitol of Ecuador. It is the capitol city that second highest in elevation in the world at 9,350 feet (behind La Paz, Bolivia). The city is just a few miles south of the equator. It is known for having a well-preserved colonial city center.

Basilica of the National Vow
This is the biggest church in Quito. It is a neogothic basilica, but it is relatively modern. Construction began in 1887 and it was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1985. Technically, it is not completed yet and apparently there is a local legend that the world will end if it is finished. Since it is neogothic it has gargoyles. Since it is in Ecuador and they wanted to make it unique and local, the gargoyles are related to the Galapagos! It really was an interesting building.

turtle gargoyles

iguana gargoyles

penguin

some sort of sea bird

bronze door

rose window

random building painting

Independence Square: this has been the central square of the city and was the main center of city government in the 1600s. Most of the buildings date to the colonial period.

Cathedral of Quito
This is on Independence Square and is considered the highest Catholic Church in Ecuador. It was initially built in 1534, but was damaged by a volcano in 1660 and reconstructed. There were 2 more reconstructions in the 1700s due to earthquakes. The belfry you see here was restored in 1930.

The Church and Monastery of San Francisco
They would not let me take pictures inside of here, plus there was a service going on so I did not feel like I could sneak them in good conscience. It has quite a golden interior. We only went in the church portion. It was built from 1537-1680 and is the largest historical architectural structures of colonial Latin America. The church has a lot of colonial art. Unfortunately, we only had a few minutes to peruse, and, like I said, there was a service going on so we were quite limited.

La Ronda: this is a well-known street in Quito’s historical district. There are shops and restaurants along the way.

Virgin of Quito
This is a 147 foot tall aluminum statue replica of a 1730s wooden statue. This one has overlooked Quito since 1976.

Virgin of Quito up close

View of Quito from the Virgin of Quito

La Mitad Del Mundo
This is the local monument and museum for the equator. There appears to be something about either the rotation of the earth or the electromagnetic field that affects your balance and strength when you stand exactly on the equator. Our guide had us do a variety of strength and balance activities while standing on the equator line and just a few inches off of it. We couldn’t do them properly on the line but could once we moved off. It was really bizarre!