La Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the world) is an enormous monument only a couple km north of Quito. It is a place where masses of tourists funnel to if they're searching for an attraction near the City. It is the middle of the Earth. The equator - namesake of the nation, Ecuador, which means equator in Spanish.
Located just 30 km north of Ecuador's capital, Quito, the center of the world stands as a colossal monument which holds a secret. The trapezoid stone memorial stands 30 meters high with a brass globe in the top where you can go (for a fee) and see the rest of the website.
The stone monument itself is not on the equator. Some French explorers, using pre-GPS technology, awakened in the 18th century and marked the incorrect point. The Mitad del Mundo was erected in place following this discovery to lure tourist into the spot. Soon restaurants and museums have been built to accommodate the ever-increasing bulk of visitors.
GPS (Global Positioning System) finally proved the appropriate spot for the center of the planet. But, what to do with the already developed infrastructure in which most tourists are relegated to? Well, just don't tell anyone about it and hope they do not find out. Let those fools continue to lose their money there.
I believe that they're trained not to inform visitors where the true spot is to keep on making money and covering their error.
The real Mitad del Mundo is a outdoor museum.
The actual Mitad del Mundo is tucked away just a couple of hundred meters away on a nondescript cultural heritage. The museum is named Inti Nan, which you may easily miss if you don't investigate further than the imitation Mitad del Mundo. Here in Inti Nan, is where the cool stuff actually happens. Water flushes down the sinkhole rather spin around in circles. Your brain becomes confused if you walk the equator line with your eyes shut.
Just check out the cool video I created.
How did we find the actual Mitad del Mundo? My fiancé and I did some research ahead. We asked the girl at the counter who spoke perfect English to point us to the place where we could locate the actual equator. She totally downplayed that she did not know what we're talking about! She said it is all true because the equator is 5 kilometers to the right and left.
The equator runs around the whole planet after all. There is even another site named Quitsato where another Mitad del Mundo stands. But here on this very small museum, they have some cool things for you check out that prove it is right in the center of the planet.