El Panecillo HIll & Lookout

The Panecillo hill is the most important natural lookout of Quito. The elevation is located in the center of the city and this privileged location has become the most visited site of the Capital of Ecuador, because from its summit you can appreciate the urban structure of the city, both its historic center as the North and South ends.

The Panecillo, called that way by the Spaniards since the time of the conquest because its shape resembles a bread, has on it a monumental sculpture of 45 meters high of the "Virgen de Quito", a creation of the Spanish artist Agustín de la Herrán Matorral, inaugurated in 1975, the world's largest artistic work made in aluminum. Herrán was inspired to make it in Bernardo de Legarda’s virgin, a sculpture of 30 cm, one of the most representative works of the Quito School.

The elevation reaches 3.000 meters in height and in pre-Columbian times it was called Shunguloma or Yavirac. It’s been the subject of oil paintings and paintings by the most prominent Ecuadorian artists; El Panecillo during the time of independence was a Spanish fortress that fell on to the realistic and pro-independence forces, what today is known as the "Olla del Panecillo" was nothing more than the tank which was used to provide water to the fortress.

As a tourist attraction, it is possible to visit the Museum of the Virgin or climb to the viewpoint that is located at the foot of the giant statue and have a view of Quito in 360 degrees, or see the Spanish tank. Around it there are restaurants, coffee shops, a crafts fair and a recreation area for kids.