La Virgen de El Panecillo Statue

Have you ever seen a Virgin Mary with wings? Here at the top of El Panecillo hill, stands La Virgen de El Panecillo, a towering aluminum statue, the only winged Virgin Mary statue in the world. La Virgen de El Panecillo isn’t just a beautiful monument. It represents a turning point in Quito’s artistic history. The Quito School of Art, renowned throughout the Americas, traditionally depicted static, serene Madonnas. This 41-meter-tall statue, also known as the Virgin of Quito, breaks that mold. She’s dynamic, almost dancing in the sky. Inspired by a smaller wooden sculpture created by Bernardo de Legarda in 1734, the idea for this colossal monument took root in the 1950s. City officials and religious leaders envisioned a statue visible from every corner of Quito. El Panecillo hill, with its loaf-like shape and commanding views, was the perfect spot. It took decades to bring their vision to life. Finally, in 1971, construction began on the concrete base. The statue itself, crafted from 7,400 aluminum pieces, was designed and built by Spanish artist Agustín de la Herrán Matorras in Madrid. Imagine the logistical feat of shipping all those pieces to Ecuador and then assembling them like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Each piece is numbered, a detail you can still see today when you visit the museum inside the globe beneath the Virgin’s feet. La Virgen de El Panecillo was finally completed on March 28, 1975. She stands atop a globe, crushing a serpent underfoot, a traditional image from the Book of Revelation. A plaque at the base, “The Woman of the Apocalypse,” further solidifies this connection. From up here, the view of Quito is breathtaking. You can see the historic center spread out below, the bustling streets and red-tiled roofs. La Virgen de El Panecillo watches over it all, a symbol of Quito’s past, present, and future.