The Basilica del Voto Nacional is considered one of the most important pieces of the New-gothic architecture in Ecuador. It was built to recall the consecration of the Ecuadorian state to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, during the presidency of Gabriel Garcia Moreno in 1873. It is 38 feet high and it contains 24 internal chapels that represent the provinces of the country. It was incredible strolling through the quiet, wax-scented interior looking at the gilded iconography in the twenty-four chapels.

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Another narrow street like so many of the other streets we've seen here in South America.

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The magnificent Presidential Palace, located on scenic Plaza de Independencia, is guarded by two officers in traditional 19th-century red, blue and gold costume. It has been the site of much of Ecuador's political history. We got to see the inner courtyard with its fountain, columns, and iron balconies.

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The day we visited, many school children were there to see the President and thank him for all he has done for education. He actually appeared on the balcony after the band played and the guard changed.

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La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesus is a Jesuit church in the historic center of Quito. It is one of the most well known churches because of its central nave, which is covered in seven tons of gold leaf. It was modeled after the Church of Gesu in Rome and is styled in Latin American Baroque. It took Jesuit priests 160 years to finish construction. Design elements include a near symmetrical facade, Moorish influence in the nave, and artwork by artists of the Quito School of Art. The bell tower was the tallest structure in colonial Quito, but was toppled by two earthquakes in the mid-1800's. In the past twenty-years, the church has gone under heavy restoration, especially after a fire damaged the interior nave. The remains of Ecuador's patron saint, Mariana de Jesus, are in a sarcophagus that is part of the main altar.

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In 1976, the Spanish artist Agustín de la Herrán Matorras was commissioned by the religious order of the Oblates to build a 45-meter-tall aluminum monument of a Madonna. It is made of seven thousand pieces of aluminum. The monument was inaugurated on March 28, 1976. The virgin stands on top of a globe and is stepping on a snake, which is a classic Madonna iconography. Less traditional are the wings. Locals claim that she is the only one in the world with wings like an angel.

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15-miles north of Quito, one can actually stand on the Equator. We went to a small museum where we participated in some interesting experiments like standing an egg on end and watching water go down the drain first straight when it was right on the equator and then clockwise and counterclockwise when it was to the left and right of it. Amazing!!

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We can now truthfully say that we have walked on the equator.

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