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MONUMENT ON THE EQUATOR
spondylus ponchos, which were worn by only a few of the buried bodies of hierarchical importance. Address: Calle Antonio Costa, between Román and Fernando Corral St., at the San Vicente de La Florida neighborhood in Northern Quito. Open: Wednesdays thru Sundays from 8h00-16h30. Free admission.
SURROUNDINGS THE MONUMENT ON THE EQUATOR It is located approximately 20 minutes away from Quito, at San Antonio de Pichincha. The “Mitad del Mundo City” surrounding the monument includes several restaurants and folklore shops, museums about the missions that measured the Earth, the “Solar Culture Museum” (with a display of the latest investigations about the real middle of the world), and a Planetarium. Inside the monument is an interesting Ethnic Museum. You can shop and place one foot on the northern Hemisphere and the other on the southern Hemisphere. Entrance fee to the “Middle of the World City” is $2.00, to the Ethnic Museum $3.00, to the Planetarium $1.50. Visiting hours: Monday thru Thursday 09h00-18h00, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 09h00-19h00. Phone: 239 4804
has expanded to the surrounding valleys: Cumbaya, Tumbaco and Los Chillos. Little more than a decade ago, these valleys consisted mostly of open pastures and country cottages. Now they offer all the commodities of a modern city: supermarkets, malls, schools, universities, hospitals, restaurants, good lodging and even movie theaters, but fortunately they have maintained their rustic charm and decidedly slower pace than Quito. Only a few kilometers from the bustling city, but several hundred meters below, the valleys provide warmer weather and a relaxed rural feeling, preferred by young families and many foreigners who live and work in Quito. TULIPE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE-MUSEUM Tulipe was built by the Yumbo people, who inhabited the north and northwestern valleys and mountains
around Quito from around 800 to 1660 AD. It’s thought that the Yumbo people migrated to the Amazon after a great eruption of the Pichincha Volcano in 1660, and this theory is currently being investigated. Although disregarded by the Spanish chroniclers and subsequent historians, the site at Tulipe, as well as the 2,000 pyramids and mounds now unearthed, point to an important nation. It’s thought that it controlled this crucial trade route between the Pacific coast, the Andes and the Amazon to the east. The remains at Tulipe suggests it was the civilisation’s main ceremonial site. It is made up of eight structures, one of which one is of Incan construction, since the conquering Incas built their temple on top of the existing one. Water played a primordial role at Tulipe, with many pools reflecting its ceremonial importance. The “Yumbo People Interpretation Centre” houses didactic information on the site and the Yumbos, and is the starting point for future investigations. Open Wednesdays thru Sundays from 09h00 to 17h00. Located between the towns of Nanegalito and Gualea, on the main road Calacali-La Independencia, which heads northwest from Quito. Take the sign-posted road on the right soon after the small town of Nanegalito. Phone: 285-0635. Admission fee: $3 adults, $1 children and students.
SURROUNDING VALLEYS The mountains and cliffs surrounding Quito make it difficult for the city to spread out to the sides, thus, it 78
TULIPE