Mitad del Mundo
A 30 M Monument And Tourist Village Marking The Equator, Built In 1979 And Based On The 1736 French Geodesic Mission. GPS Shows The True Line About 240 M North, Where The Intinan Museum Stages Equator Experiments. The Country Takes Its Name From The Line. · San Antonio de Pichincha, Pichincha
Mitad del Mundo, the Middle of the World, is a tourist village and a 30 m granite monument topped by a globe, in San Antonio de Pichincha about 25 km north of Quito. It was built in 1979-82 to mark the Equator, from the line measured by the French Geodesic Mission of 1736 led by Charles Marie de la Condamine. Ecuador takes its name from that line. The honest part is this: modern GPS puts the true Equator roughly 240 m to the north, so the yellow line painted across the plaza is not exactly right. The place is still fun, a flat and easy half-day with a museum inside the monument, a lift to a viewing deck, shops, cafes and a small chapel. It is touristy and the shops are overpriced. Treat it as a one-hour stop with a photo, not as a science lesson, and pair it with the Intinan Solar Museum and Pululahua crater. Go in the morning for clear skies, buy the combined ticket at the gate, and eat elsewhere if you want a fair price. The place is free of danger and good with children, but it asks little of your time.
Equator monument and theme village about 25 km north of Quito on the road to Calacali, with the Intinan Solar Museum a short walk away, San Antonio de Pichincha, Pichincha, Ecuador
The village is open daily during daytime hours, with the monument and museum closing earlier than the shops and restaurants. Entry to the plaza area may be priced as a combined ticket with parking, the monument and the museum. Browsing the shops is FREE once inside. Hours change on public holidays, so confirm locally.