May 10, 2019

May 10, 2019

This morning we had a guided tour of Quito. We started in the historic Old Town. Our first stop is the relatively modern neo-Gothic National Basilica. The inside has a lot of beautiful stained glass but the exterior gargoyles are more interesting. They are in the shape of Ecuador’s endemic creatures. One row has Amazonian animals (eg monkeys) while another has those from the Galapagos (eg Iguanas). Higher in the facade are drain-gutters of bird species. Many of which we saw on our cruise.

Near the center of the Old Town we walked the narrow brick-paved streets lined with Spanish colonial buildings. This section of Quito is a World Heritage Site because it is the best preserved historic center in Latin America. We started at the statue of the Spanish Conquistador, de Belalcazar, who defeated an Inca general in 1534 and founded Quito atop the ruins of an Inca city. A floor map shows the colonial layout.

We walked a couple blocks to the Main Square. It has a massive monument dedicated to the first Independence movement in 1809. Success came later in 1820 when Marshal Sucre, one of Simon Bolivar’s generals defeated the Spanish here. The Ecuadorian money used to be called the Sucre.

The beautiful square is filled with students in uniform on assignment to interview tourists and practice their English. I volunteer to be a guinea pig. Some of the girls speak better English than the others.

After founding Quito, the Spanish immediately started building churches. The city is loaded with them. We walk past the Metropolitan Cathedral to the nearby Jesuit Church. The exterior is intricately carved but we are astounded by the interior. Wow! It is nicknamed the Gold Church for good reason. Almost every surface is covered in gold leaf. The decoration is part Baroque and half even more over the top Rococo. Interestingly the decorations look Islamic/Moorish, probably because of their significant contribution to Spanish culture. We are lucky to see the church interior as it is often closed to tourists during devotions related to a miracle that happened in the church in 1906.

A block away we visit another historic church and convent with adjoining plaza. This one built by the Franciscan order. A Mass is going on so we have to walk quietly down the side aisles. It is still highly decorated but a step less than the last one. I guess the Jesuits were wealthier.

Leaving the Old Town we drove north. Quito is a long narrow city that sprawls the length of a ridge in the Andes. Because of hilly terrain, traffic is horrendous. A new subway is being built that will hopefully relieve a lot of the congestion. Just north of the city we reach the equator. There we visit the Middle of the World Monument. Aimee and I take the required photo of us straddling the line. It is a little touristy but the site does commemorate the French Geodesic Mission that was sent here in 1736 to measure the roundness (or rather non-roundness) of the earth.

After having a tasty Ecuadorian lunch overlooking the Monument, we take an elevator to the viewing platform and then walk down perusing the small museum. Aimee was delighted to learn that she weighs less at the equator because the earth bulges out here. Mostly we are enjoying the great weather. Apparently the reason Quito has grown so large is the climate. It is delightful year-round owing to its location on the equator at high altitude.

Back in central Quito, Aimee and I walked to the nearby National Museum of Ecuador. I was a little disappointed. It had a number of pre-Columbian artifacts but with limited English descriptions. There was precious little history about later periods. I would have hoped to learn more about General Sucre and Independence, or maybe information about the Conquistador Orellana who left here looking for gold but ended up discovering the Amazon and floating down its entire length. The closest we get is a portrait of Simon Bolivar the Liberator.

We then revisited the Artisan Market by our hotel. Because of imminent travel, we retired to our hotel room, ate some snacks and tried to take a nap.