Virgin of Quito atop el Panecillo
The day after our tour officially ended and our group disbanded, Ursula and I decided to tour Quito on our own on Quito’s version of the Hop-on/Hop-off bus. The Quito Tour Bus company has a fleet of red double-deckers, as you can see here:
Quito Tour Bus — Hop-on, Hop-off
One of our stops on tour included el Panecillo (the Little Bread), a 200-meter/660-foot volcanic hill that overlooks central Quito from the southwest. The elevation here is a lofty 3,016 meters/9,895 feet above sea level, and the views are . . .
Quito panoramic from atop el Panecillo
At the very top of el Panecillo is the 45-meter/148-foot tall statue dedicated to the Virgin of Quito, a Madonna based upon the original Virgin of Quito dating back to 1734. This statue, however, was dedicated some 242 years after the original.
Virgin of Quito standing on a dragon coiled around a crescent moon atop a globe
From a distance it appears the Virgin of Quito is made of grey masonry, especially on a cloudy day, but a close-up image reveals that the statue is comprised of individual pieces of aluminum—7,000 pieces of aluminum.
Virgin of Quito — 7,000 pieces of aluminum
Now for more images of the view here:
Decisions — Murder in Paradise
The Globe — Murder in Luxury
R. Doug Wicker — Author 