The Panecillo hill is Quito’s most representative natural formation. Located inside the historical downtown of the city at an altitude of 3000m (9842ft) above the sea level and a height of 200m (656ft), the Panecillo (meaning “Little bread”) is a historical hill that holds on its peak one of Quito’s largest work of art: the beloved Virgin of Quito, that can be seen from almost any corner of the city. This hill is a silent witness of the city’s history of development, destructions, conquests, wars, building and rebuilding.
This hill was already an important spot since the year 1400. Its sides were inhabited by the Quitus indigenes, who called it “Shungoloma”, that means “Hill of the heart” in their native tongue. It was the place of worship to their main god: the Sun, also known as “Yavirac” or “Inti”.
Later on, in the year 1500, the Panecillo hill witnessed the defeat and conquest of the Quitus by the Incas, who kept considering it important. On its peak, the Incas made a very important structure that can still be appreciated nowadays: the “Olla del Panecillo”. It is believed that this large rock container was initially a storage room for seeds –especially corn seeds– and that afterwards it became a water reservoir for irrigating the crop fields that used to be there in those times. Years later, a part of the structure was destroyed by Rumiñahui, the royal warrior of the Incan empire, when he found out about the advance of the Spanish conquistadors.
In 1534, the Panecillo saw the first white men when the conquistadores from Spain finally arrived to the city. They were less in numbers, but their weapons and their greed were superior to those of the Incas, so they defeated them and got established in the sides of the hill. When the Spaniards saw the hill from far away, they realized it had the shape of a little bread, and that is how the “Shungoloma” got its current name of “Panecillo”.
Due to its location, the hill was used by the Spaniards as a strategic military spot; and the “Olla del Panecillo” (which also got its name from them) served to collect rainwater that later got used for the irrigation of the gardens of new Colonial Era. Finally, after years of colonization, on May 24th 1822 the Panecillo proudly observed the liberation battle of Pichincha and the progressive defeat of the Spanish Colonial troops.
More recently, in the year 1976, the Spanish artist Agustín de la Herrán Matorras made at the top of the hill an impressive large structure called “The Virgin of Quito” or “The Virgin of Legarda”: a work made of 7000 pieces of aluminum, the largest of its kind ever made. The sculpture is a replica of the Immaculate Virgin made by the Ecuadorean artist Bernardo de Legarda, which can be observed in the high altar of the San Francisco Church.
Nowadays, the Panecillo can be visited up to its peak to admire the Virgin of Quito and see the Olla del Panecillo. When standing at the top, a look to the impressive landscape of the city will make you understand the love and veneration this natural formation has been subject of by the local people over the centuries.
Photo: ADN Montalvo
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