Mitad Del Mudo

Visit the centre of Earth. Located in Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador, is a monument built in the middle of equator, falling in both northern and southern hemispheres, called Mitad de la Mundo, which means the middle or center of the earth in English. Why here? The equator passes through 13 countries. Therefore, a monument located on the equator or the center of the world could be anywhere, right? The answer lies in an 18th century expedition. The Spanish-French geodesic mission went out to measure the roundness of the Earth attempting to draw a straight line across its center. Geodesic, a geometric term, loosely translates to 'a straight line on the curved spaces'. This was a first attempt of sorts to achieve the same. The existence of this place is embedded in the movement of sun, the seasons and a whole society that existed around this area. The monument that is 30-m high is a refurbished structure, which has replaced the smaller, older structure. It was constructed in four years, the work commencing in 1979 and opened for public in 1982. The new monument is a brass globe standing on a trapezoidal tower made of iron and concrete. However, this mistake is now an adorable tourist trap. The fun part—you could actually be standing at the ‘wrong’ centre of the Earth! When the mission visited and identified this place back in the 17th century, they, by mistake of course, placed the equator a little further, roughly by 240 m. Not many tourists know of this and even if they do, they don’t care. This is considered a fun place where you can get a brilliant photo-op by keeping one foot in the northern hemisphere and other in the southern hemisphere.