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Pichincha · Ecuador Capital
In the destination Quito and Mindo.
In the photo: Plaza Grande
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
The city
Quito is the capital of Ecuador, in an Andean valley at about 2,850 meters, at the foot of the Pichincha volcano. The Centro Histórico, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978, includes the Plaza Grande, the gilded churches of La Compañía and San Francisco, La Ronda and the Basílica del Voto. El Panecillo and the TelefériQo show the city from above, and the Mitad del Mundo is 25 km away. Days are mild and nights are cold.
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The local experience
Quito's central square, also called Plaza de la Independencia, with the monument to the heroes of 1809, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Palacio de Carondelet (the seat of government), and the archbishop's and municipal palaces.
Jesuit church from the 17th and 18th centuries with an interior almost entirely covered in gold leaf, Solomonic columns and a carved volcanic stone façade, located in the Centro Histórico.
Quito's first major religious complex, begun in 1537, with the stone plaza, the Baroque church, cloisters and the Fray Pedro Gocial colonial art museum.
Neogothic basilica high in the Historic Center, with towers you can climb, stained glass windows and gargoyles shaped like Ecuadorian animals such as Galápagos tortoises, iguanas and armadillos.
Hill to the south of the Historic Center, at about 3,000 meters, with the Virgen de Quito, a winged aluminum statue over 40 meters tall, and views of the center, the north of the city and the surrounding volcanoes.
Cable car that climbs the slope of the Pichincha volcano, from about 3,000 to almost 4,000 meters, up to the Cruz Loma viewpoint, with views of all of Quito and trails in the páramo.
Narrow colonial street in the Historic Center, with houses with flowered balconies, artisan workshops, cafés and bars, lively at night with music and canelazo, a typical hot Quito drink.
Complex north of Quito with the 30-meter monument marking the Equator line, an ethnographic museum, pavilions and a plaza with restaurants. There you can take the photo with one foot in each hemisphere.
Open-air museum near the Mitad del Mundo, with traditional houses, Andean and Amazonian culture, and experiments on the Equator line, such as balancing an egg on a nail.
