Intiñan Site Museum in the Middle of the World

Intiñán. Quechua word that means Way of the Sun. It is the name of the Site Museum in San Antonio de Pichincha. It is 200 meters from the Museum and the Middle of the World City. 

 

Intiñán is a center of scientific and anthropological diffusion. Perhaps its most publicized aspect is the scientific one because of the "egg demonstration". Visitors are challenged to balance an egg on the head of a nail, in a perpendicular way. The Museum gives a certificate to those who succeed. The second surprising demonstration is the "Coriolis Effect". When the cap is removed from a container full of water, the drain is perpendicular. No schedule, no anti-clockwork. Two proofs that people are in the Middle of the World, on the Equator. Under its consequences. 

 

There's a second aspect not so well known. This is an anthropological museum. It spreads the solar knowledge of the Ecuadorian aboriginal peoples and their cultures.

 

Intiñan has an attractive distribution. The Solar Cylinder or "Acoratene" to observe the movement of the Sun. In its center the Chakana. The kuri-cancha to celebrate equinoxes and solstices. With capacity for 400 people. The totemic forest and the Atlantis. The replica of a funeral tola. The Solar Calendar indicates the position of the earth in relation to the sun. 

 

The Shuar, Waorani, Qichua and Salasaca cultures have their very particular rooms. These expose their characters, customs, ways of life and the environment in which they develop. The visit is not complete without knowing something about the Galapagos Islands and seeing the Andean camelid corral.

 

The Intiñán Museum, a family initiative, has several decades of experience. It is a project initiated in 1960 by professor, journalist and researcher Humberto Vera. It is continued by his son Fabián Vera. 

 

The San Antonio de Pichincha parish, north of Quito, is world famous. The Equinoctial Line, which divides the world into two halves, passes through this place.