Quito's Virgin

At the south end of the Old Town in Quito is a hill with a large statue of the Virgin Mary on top. It was constructed in 1976 and is a popular tourist destination. It also serves and a good way to orient yourself as you walk through the sometimes confusing streets of the Old Town. There are steps that you can take to the top of the hill, but it's a 40 minute walk straight uphill and the guidebooks caution that walkers have been robbed. So we took a cab.

Apparently you can distinguish a Quito Virgin from other Virgins by the fact that she has wings. In Quito they started putting wings on the Virgin in the 18th century. They prefer a lively winged Virgin here, instead of the static Virgin that you usually see.

We got another good view from the top.