Tag Archives: Middle of the World City

Middle of the World monument

As noted on Monday’s article, the Middle of the World monument located here near Quito is actually about 787 feet/240 meters south of the equator. The French miss-measured just a tad way back in 1736, and the Ecuadorians never got around to correcting them.

Latitude 000° 00′ 00″ give or take 747 Feet/240 meters

But, it’s close enough for most of us.

Middle of the World monument

While we were here I got to view a couple of really old automobiles. For those of you younger than I who think the BMW Mini Cooper is a modern vehicle, let me introduce you to one of the real Mini Coopers, produced in England. The first Minis were made by British Motor Corporation from 1959 to 1968. Then came British Leyland, which produced the same basic Mini for another eighteen years. When British Leyland collapsed, the Mini soldiered on as a product of Rover Group from 1986 until 2000.

An original Mini Cooper

How about something just a tad older? Something from the 1940s, perhaps? Here is a neat old Dodge Truck converted for use as a bus of sorts.

1940s-era Dodge truck

Now for a photo gallery/slide show from the Middle of the World:

Middle of the World monument

Middle of the World monument

Middle of the World City

Middle of the World monument

Me standing on the Equator

The Middle of the World — off by about 787 feet/240 meters!

As Agent 86 would say, “Missed it by that much.” Today we visit the Middle of the World City (Ciudad Mitad del Mundo). The Middle of the World is about 16 miles/26 kilometers north of downtown Quito, and our group arrived here after lunch and the Changing of the Guard (see last week’s articles).

Our Ecuador tour group

This site was determined to be at the Equator by a French expedition in 1736, and they missed. The marker in the background above is located at 0° 00′ 08″ south latitude, or 787 feet/240 meters south of the actual equator. Fortunately, our ancestors were a bit better at such measurements. There exists an Ecuadorian architectural site that in AD 800 was placed at exactly 0° 00′ 00″.

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo

The walk from the parking lot to the Equatorial marker is lined with statuary, flags, and markers such as these:

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo

Here are examples of the statuary:

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo

And the “city” itself? Here are some of the buildings:

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo