In Ecuador: journey to the center of the earth

For most of us the equator is nothing more than a symbolic line drawn on the map indicating the zero latitude. However, there are the lucky ones who managed to see that same line drawn on the ground. The real center of the world is located in the Ecuadorian town of Mitta del Mundo (in Spanish literally "middle world"), here in the literal sense of the word at hand from the Northern hemisphere to the southern.



The name of the Republic of Ecuador translated from Spanish means "equator", so that the harmony is not accidental. The city of Quito, capital of Ecuador is on the equator itself and the yellow line — in the "city" MITT del Mundo (it is located 15 km from Quito). MITT del Mundo is actually more like a tourist center, nobody lives here, but there is a lot of fun for travelers.



A symbolic yellow line appeared in MITT del Mundo after the French geodesic expedition of Charles Marie de La Condamine in 1736. This scholar-enthusiast for 10 years researched Ecuador, trying to find evidence that our planet is not perfectly smooth, but at the same time and find the equator. And he did it, he found the sky at the point where the sun stands in the Zenith.



In 1936, on the 200th anniversary of the expedition in Ecuador appeared first monument in honor of the French Academy of Sciences. In 1979, MITT del Mundo was converted into a tourist complex, there was a famous 30-metre tower, topped by a globe, which in the spring and autumn solstice doesn't cast a shadow. Along the Avenue leading to the monument, you can see busts of all the members of the expedition.



Besides the tower, in MITT del Mundo there are other attractions: the Church in which the couple can get married, being in different hemispheres, and the ethnographic Museum, the exposition of which is devoted to the peoples of Ecuador. In MITT del Mundo annually attracts about a half million tourists. Despite the fact that the latest GPS studies have proved that the actual equator is 240 metres North of the indicated yellow line, the government of Ecuador decided not to move the monument, and, apparently, satisfied tourists, this discrepancy is not too upsetting.



 

Source: amazingmeridian.ru/2014/04/3.html