Mitad del Mundo

The Mitad del Mundo, also known as the Middle of the World, is a tract of land located in San Antonio parish, Quito, Ecuador. It is situated at the equator and commemorates the eighteenth-century Franco-Spanish Geodesic Mission that fixed its approximate location. The grounds contain the Monument to the Equator, which highlights the exact location of the Equator, and the Museo Etnográfico Mitad del Mundo, a museum about the indigenous people ethnography of Ecuador. The 30-metre-tall monument was constructed between 1979 and 1982 and is made of iron and concrete covered with cut and polished andesite stone. The monument was built to commemorate the first Geodesic Mission of the French Academy of Sciences, led by Louis Godin, Pierre Bouguer, and Charles Marie de La Condamine. The place also features a museum park with several museums, including the Ethnographic Museum, Planetarium, Quito Colonial, Insectarium, and others. The Mitad del Mundo is a popular tourist destination and a significant cultural and scientific site in Ecuador