We visited Ecuador in November, 2019.
San Francisco de Quito is the capital and most populous city in Ecuador. Quito's historical center, El Centro Historio, is one of the largest, least-altered, and best-preserved Spanish colonial cities in the Americas. Quito lies at around 9200' in elevation.
The Virgin of Quito was built atop El Panecillo ("Little Loaf of Bread") at an elevation of 3000 meters, allowing a good view of the city and the surrounding volcanoes. In Quichua the name of the hilltop is Shungoloma ("hill of the heart"). In pre-Incan times it was the site of a sun god temple, "Yavirac". The monument represents the Virgin Mary as described in the book of the Apocalypse, with wings, and a chain binding the snake beast beneath her feet. It was constructed of 7400 pieces of aluminum brought over from Spain. At 30 meters in height (plus 11 meters of its base) it is the world's largest aluminum statue, weighing 124,000 kg.
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Last modified 29 December 2019