Photos of Middle of the World City

The Ecuadorian Equator Monument is divided into two, the old and the new. The old monument was completed in 1774. It is located in the town of San Antonio, where the longitude 78°27′8″ west and the latitude 0° intersect. It is 24 kilometers away from the capital Quito. The monument is about 10 meters high. The column is engraved with E.S.O.N. four Spanish letters representing east, west, south and north, to commemorate the French and Ecuadorian scientists who contributed to the measurement of the equator and the construction of the stele. The stele is engraved with "Here is the center of the earth" The top of the stele is an eye-catching large stone globe with a white center line symbolizing the equator, which is connected from top to bottom with the white lines on the steps on the east and west sides of the stele. This white line divides the earth into two parts, north and south. Every year on March 21 and September 23, the sun passes through the equator and directly hits the equator, and the global day and night are equal. At this time, the Ecuadorians will hold a grand event to welcome the sun god, thank the sun for bringing warmth to mankind Ecuadorians call this monument half the world. Tourists like to stand on the stone steps to take pictures, with their feet on both sides of the white line, to show that they are standing on the north and south hemispheres at the same time. Announced by the United Nations in 1978 It is a world cultural heritage. In 1981, the Ecuadorian government decided to build a new equatorial monument in the Equinocial Valley near the monument. The new monument was completed on August 9, 1982. Its appearance is basically the same as the old monument, but it is older than the old one. The monument is three times larger: 30 meters high, 4.5 meters in diameter, and 4.5 tons in weight. The things on the monument are inscribed: 78°27′8″ West Greenwich, 0°0′ latitude. An elevator was built in the monument, and a watchtower was installed on the top of the monument. In front of the monument, there is a long stone passage, and there are some stone sculpture groups on both sides of the passage. Anyone who travels to Quito can receive a certificate issued by the management department to prove that they have visited the dividing line between the northern and southern hemispheres on a certain day of a certain year. In addition, the Somali Equator Monument is located 60 kilometers north of Kismayo, a port city in southern Somalia. It is a 3-meter-tall concrete building with a globe and an east-west pointer at the top to mark the equator.