Mitad del Mundo, Quito

3 more images

This is a very popular place and a must if you go to Ecuador. You probably take the famous picture staddling the yellow line so that you can show your friends that yiou were on the both hemispheres at the same time. Latitdue 0 ,0 ,0 . This is the second monument you see here as the first one has been replaced.
This is an interesting place to visit. You can see shows, musical and cultural presentations for tourists in the main courtyard and you can tour the museum and shop and eat. There is lot to do in La Mitad del Mundo and you can easily spend the whole day there.
Construction started in April 1979 and ended in August of 1982. It is made out of iron and cement, covered with the coating of polished and cut andesite stones. This new monument has the same geometric features as the former pyramid. It is 30 meters tall, three times bigger than the first one, with a large metallic globe at its top. Inside the monument there is an ethnographic museum containing scientific and cultural exhibits.
Actually, this really isnt the middle of the world because geographers were about 250 meters off the mark. The Museo Inti Nan is where the true equator lies and has a signpost that will indicate when you are standing in the center of the earth. This is right next door.
There are more pictures in the travelogue if you want to check them out.

The Mitad del Mundo(Middle of the World) is 100% touristy and cheesy as well...but you came to Ecuador, so now you're obligated to see the actual 0 degree latitude line....or at least they say it is. Here we have a line painted on the ground where tourists stand on both sides and have their photos taken. There is also a monument, lots of shops, restaurants and the like...a regular theme park here.

4 more images

A climb up to the top of this towering church is something I highly recommend. The journey begins up stone stairs, then to a long "plank" walkway, finally reaching a rickety-ish iron ladder to reach the top. Those fearful of heights might want to give this a pass, but if you can manage, the views from the top are outstanding....bring your camera.

2 more images

This is an uber-touristy, sometimes less than authentic, cheesy outing. But if you have a day to go, you can make it worthwhile by combining it with a few other options. You can take the metrobus all the way to its last northerly stop and from that station, get straight on the bus that drops you right in front of the main Mitad del Mundo complex. It will take 1.5 hours or so each way from Quito (less if you are leaving from the Mariscal area or more north) but cost you about 50 cents, a lot less than a lot of travel companies charge for Mitad del Mundo day trips. Within the complex you can see the big equator monument (which is actually a few hundred metres off), pay a few extra dollars to explore the small but interesting Anthropological museum which showcases the various indigenous cultures throughout Ecuador, check out the numerous tourist shops for artesania, enjoy a typical Ecuadorian lunch and catch a dance show. From there you can walk up a few hundred metres to the science museum on the real equator. As well, a $12 cab (return) will take you to the Rumicucho Ruins which are small but a worthwhile stopover if you are unable to catch the other ruins in the country during your stay.

4 more images

This is the main reason I went to Quito --- to go to the Equator's Mitad del Mundo, which is just 30 km north of the city center. This is the 0°0'0'' latitude - the place where the Equator divides the Northern and Southern Hemispheres!

There's a N-S-E-W orientation to the big 4.5 meter 5 ton globe on a pyramidal tower, and I took pictures from each side. And you also have to take that picture with one foot on both sides of the "yellow line".

Placing one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other foot in the southern hemisphere makes you stand right in the equator --- and supposedly, you should “weigh less” at the equator. I personally did not feel the difference and I actually gained a little weight when I got home from too much good food! LOL

You could also go up the pyramidal structure and have a nice view of the town and mountains/volcano (?) around this equatorial location.

However, apparently the exact location of the equator is still in debate and measurements here may be "off". The entire structure is about 240 meters south of the true equator, which was not precisely located until recently, with the advent of GPS technology.

The place has already been commercialized, and you can find here an ethnographic museum, an art gallery, a bullfighting ring, handicraft stores, and even a cockpit.

Buses leave from the north-central side of Quito and travel directly to Mitad del Mundo, but (since I am old and tired) I just hired a driver through my hotel to bring me to this place directly and also to see the other attractions in the vicinity.

1 more image

To tell you the truth, I didn't like the monument. Too sturdy and squared for me and doesn't have any of the Ecuadorian soul. The whole setting, either. It's too tidy and looks so dry. What I liked is the whole idea of being there as the place - or somewhere nearby – is where the ancestors of local people, the Quitus, celebrated their notion of the Equator, according to their traditional rituals and beliefs. They worshipped their god, Inty-nan, which is the name of the museum in the real Equator. Yes, as you all know, after having read so many tips, the real Equator, as calculated by more advanced technology in 1997, was 240meters off. And it's a lot of fun. There is a sun dial with dark and light stones, which are useful for the satellite observation as they give different traces. Some experiments are also being performed, trying to convince tourists, that something is happening on the spot, but it is widely rumoured that they are fake. I have no idea who is right...
Anyway, the touristic complex of the “other” Mitad del Mundo contains an Ethnographic Museum, a miniature of Quito, a bull-fighting arena, a cock-fight house, a Planetarium, an ecological children park, a touristic train, workshops, and pretty but pricey restaurants built in the Ciudad del Mundo. This is a replica of an old colonial town. In the central square many cultural events take place ranging from popular music by local bands to classical music by orchestras and from traditional dances to contemporary ballet.
The monument is a quadrangular 30m tall pyramid with a globe on top... It was constructed in 1979-1982. It replaced a 10m tall monument built by the Second Geodesic mission who moved the spot 7 km off the previous one, marked by the first French Geodesic Mission in 1936-1945.
The most ...straddled line in the World is drawn on the ground in front, running through it, where all tourists take the usual picture. I did it, too....The 13 busts you will see are of the members of the First Geodesic Mission.
Please don't mention to the officials that you know this is not the real Equator because when I did they looked very unhappy...and tried to convinced me this is the most important one...! After all, it's not their fault they didn't have GPS at the time of the construction....!
Locals point out that this line doesn't divide the world into two but Unifies the two hemispheres into one World !

There is a bus going there from the center. Alternatively take the Metro bus going north, get off at Ofelia transfer station and get on the Mitad del Mundo bus. It will drop you at the entrance, where you will pay an entrance of 2$ to get in. Total journey about 50 minutes.

Tel: (593) 2 255 1898

1 more image

Everbody must go to Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world, for those from Roxboro). It is where, according to modern technology, the equator truly lies, notwithstanding the claims of some natives. The thing to do is take a picture of the statues, take a picture of the altitude marker- a lowly (for Quito) 2483 m. (8144 feet), visit a museum in there, and get a buddy to take a picture of you straddling the line with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern. Like the Teleferiqo, it's something that has to be done only once.

Frankly, this place is a little overrated to me.

The Ecuadorians proudly set up a 'park' that claims to be located at the 'Mitad del Mundo' (Middle of the Earth) and charges an entrance fee for you to view... pardon my cynicism... a set of rather unattractive monuments with a circle at the top each, that allegedly sit along the Equator Line.

Well, in a way, we could still view the monuments from OUTSIDE the park, so we didn't pay, haha.