Quito's Winged Virgin

                                                                    High on a Hill

El Panecillo Equatorial Monument

    The traffic as we approached old town was horrific. The cobbled streets are narrow. Vehicles of all sizes lined up from all the side streets to merge into the one lane of traffic, It was stop and go for a long time before we finally reached the road climbing up to the virgin. Street vendors were everywhere selling food to passing cars. It was a gorgeous clear day.  We parked at the summit so my daughter and her elder daughter could climbed to the top. We, with the kinky knees, enjoyed the panoramic views of the city on a clear sunny day.

     It is impossible to visit Quito and not see the high hill that separates south from downtown (central city). The 200 meter hill  of volcanic-origin has loess soil. The hill resembles a panecillo, a bread roll or a small piece of bread; thus the name.

    On top of the hill stands the 45-meter tall winged statue of the Virgin Mary standing on top of a globe. Made of 7000 pieces of aluminum she was erected in 1976. On top of a globe the virgin is stepping on a snake, which is a classic Madonna iconography. The 12 stars in her crown reference the bible.  She faces Old Town with one hand pointing to the town she protects. Less traditional are the wings. Locals claim she is the only Virgin in the world with wings like an angel.

     She was built in sections: first the base, the world, body, hands, head in two sections, and finally the wings. 

     Legend says that in  caica-time there was the Pot of the Roll, a circular kind of cistern  eight meters  deep that was used for  irrigation. Years later, during the Spanish

domination, the place served to collect rain water to  irrigate  the gardens of the Spanish mansion Bellavista; later the site was used as a defense for the colonial troops during the libertarian battle of Pichincha.     

      Shungoloma is the original Quichuan name, meaning "hill of the heart." How fitting that the Spanish claimed it for the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

      El Panecillo is Quito’s most popular lookout area, affording a 360-degree view over the city. On a clear morning one can see as far as Cotopaxi’s distinctive volcano.