Quito Tour: Quito and Middle of the World, 6 hours, private tour, lunch included
Duration: 6 hours
Drive along the northern residential section and see the impressive Parliament Building, whose stone mural records Ecuador’s history. Then a stroll downtown and visit the colonial temples and monasteries of this urban jewel, designated by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. Visit St. Augustine Convent, its colonial patio, cloisters, coffered ceilings and the vast collection of paintings showing the life of St. Augustine. Then the Independence Plaza, flanked by the Cathedral, the Presidential Palace, the Municipal Building and the Archbishop’s Palace. Continue to the Church of San Francisco, one the of great religious buildings of the New World; its impressive façade and atrium lead to its gilt interior a Baroque influenced by Moorish style, with the winged Virgin of Quito at its main altar. Then continue to the Equatorial Monument, 25 Kms. (16 miles) North of Quito, which marks the exact Middle of the World, latitude 0º, where you can stand with a foot on each hemisphere. Visit the Ethnographic Museum insid
