Quito: the capital of Ecuador, is one of the most beautiful cities of Ecuador. It is divided into the old or colonial city and the modern city. The Colonial Quito is still reminiscent of how it was 450 years ago, even though it is a small island surrounded on all sides by a fast-growing modern city. In colonial Quito are narrow cobblestone streets lined with whitewashed walls over which the steeples and cupolas of historic churches and a cathedral sites. The integrity of colonial Quito was assured in 1978 when the United Nations declared the city a World Cultural Heritage Site.
The Equator Line or Mitad del Mundo is located just at 30 minutes north of Quito, this monument marks the closest point from where the Equator passes. Archaeological evidence indicates that the pre-Incan and the Inca civilizations recognized and worshiped the path of the equator as the marker of the equinox.