Ciudad Mitad del Mundo, Monument in San Antonio de Pichincha, Ecuador

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo is a monument and park complex in San Antonio de Pichincha, Ecuador. Its pyramidal shaft of cut and polished andesite blocks rises 30 meters, each side facing a cardinal direction, and is topped by a 4.5-meter, 5-tonne globe. Two shorter stone pylons flank the shaft, and a line runs down the east-facing staircase and across the plaza.

A French scientific expedition came here in the 18th century to measure the shape of Earth and determine the exact position of the equator. The current monument was built in the 1970s to honor that scientific achievement and permanently mark the location.

The name means "Middle of the World". A line drawn from the centre of the east-facing staircase crosses the plaza, and visitors pose straddling it. Inside the monument a small museum shows clothing, descriptions of Ecuador's ethnic groups and examples of their activities; the surrounding colonial-style town has craft shops and cafés, and the central plaza hosts musical and cultural events at weekends.

The site is located about 30 minutes outside Quito and is easily accessible by regular public buses. The pathways are flat and suitable for wheelchairs, and most areas are covered or offer shade, which helps during strong sun exposure.

The monument stands about 240 metres south of the true equator, as GPS readings later showed; the line drawn down the east staircase and across the plaza is therefore off target. The nearby Intiñan Solar Museum, 200 metres northeast, still stages drain and egg-balancing demonstrations that the Coriolis force cannot explain at that scale.