This sundial trail is dedicated to the people of Ecuador
Quito is the capital of Ecuador, and has an ancient history going back to
well before the Spanish occupation, which totally destroyed the ancient
city. Quito lies about 10 miles south of the Equator, so that gnomons
parallel to the earths axis are horizontal, which makes for some unusual
sundials.
This sundial trail starts on the eastern edge of Quito. Start at the Quito
Hotel, which is at the top of Av. 12 de Octobre.
Behind it, there is a
little ethnographic museum and sales outlet, with a cafe and a viewpoint
(mirador). If you are facing the main door of the hotel, you walk to your
left, and take the first turning down the hill to your right. The mirador
has a wooden statue of Eve wrestling the serpent. Far down in the gorge
below, you will see the church of Guapolo. There is a footpath straight
down the side of the hill to reach the church in 10 minutes of so. Outside
the church is a vertical sundial on a pillar, probably dating from the XVII
century when the church was built under the direction of Fray A Rodriguez.
The sundial unfortunately lacks a gnomon, though there is a channel on the
top of the stone which shows clearly where the horizontal gnomon should be.
After this visit, you can find a bus slightly further down the hill which
will take you back to Quito old town for around 10 US cents.
The second sundial is outside the main entrance of the Universidad Central de
Quito, which is on a roundabout on the avenida America.
This too is a vertical sundial, with gnomons which have been bent out of
alignment. The stone is in quite good condition, and on the south side has
three mottoes. On the top is CREO NESCITUR DOMINET HORA, a quotation from
Matthew XXV. Between the hour lines is I IRA QUI TENSES and the bottom one
is difficult to decipher. On the north side, which is operational from
March 21 to September 21, the top motto is illegible, and the bottom one
reads TENERAS FUERINT NUBILA NULLUS ERO. this side has the identical motto
between the hour lines. There are also hour markings on the two thin sides
of the stone slab, presumably for use at the equinoxes when the sun is
vertically overhead, and will thus not illuminate either of the main faces.
One of these has the date AD 1766. This is a very fine sundial which would
fully merit some careful restoration.
The third sundial is near the "Mitad del Mundo" monument, which is well
worth a visit. There is a good view from the top of the monument, which
also has an interesting ethnographic museum. The avenue commemorates the
astronomers who measured the length of the Equator from observations here.
There is a very please group of cafes, artisan shops, etc. within the park
site. Just outside it is the Inti Nan museum. Inti Nan is a Quechua word
meaning the "Route of the Sun" (Camino del Sol). the museum was set up by
Fabian Vera, who still runs it. He is very interested in the astronomical
knowledge of the pre-Columbian Indians
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