El Panecillo -

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My friends and I spent the day at El Panecillo. It is a huge statue of a madonna at the center of the city.


From Wikipedia:

"El Panecillo (from Spanish panecillo small piece of bread) is a 200-meter-high volcanic-origin hill. The original name used by the aboriginal inhabitants of Quito was Yavirac. According to Juan de Velasco, a Jesuit historian, on top of Yavirac there was a temple which the Indians used to worship the sun. This temple is said to have been destroyed by the Spanish conquistadores.

In 1976, the Spanish artist Agustín de la Herrán Matorras was commissioned by the religious order of the Oblates to build a 45-meter-tall aluminum monument of a madonna which was assembled on a high pedestal on the top of Panecillo. It is made of seven thousand pieces of aluminum. The monument was inaugurated on March 28, 1976, by the 11th archbishop of Quito, Pablo Muñoz Vega.

The virgin stands on top of a globe and is stepping on a snake, which of course is classic madonna iconography. What is not so traditional is that she has wings. The people of Quito proudly claim that she is the only one in the world with wings like an angel. The monument was inspired by the famous "Virgen de Quito" (Quito's Madonna) also known as "the dancer" sculpted by Bernardo de Legarda in 1734"

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Photos

My morning view
The other morning I woke up and for once it was clear. I saw 7 volcanic peaks! Can you see the hill with the statue in the middle? - El Panecillo

El Panecillo
Ecuador to the Immaculate Mother of God, Queen Augusta, Ever-Loving Mother, and Wise Protector of this republic. Legislative decree of 1892.

El Panecillo
Her wings.

El Panecillo
Inside their were devotions to the Madonna.

El Panecillo
The inside of the globe the statue sat on.

El Panecillo
The globe was detailed with a map of the world.

Comments

[carmen]

Virgins
I'm working on a paper right now about the Virgen de Guadalupe who miraculously appeared on a hill in Tepeyac, Mexico. She's an indigenous Virgin and the Mexicans used her as part of an argument claiming that Mexico had been evangelized by the Apostle Thomas in biblical times, before the arrival of the Spaniards. Supposedly, during pre-colonial times, she was worshipped by the Aztecs as the goddess "Tonantzín". Anyway, this case was interesting in light of the one I'm working on. Thanks for sharing.