North of Quito, on the arid plateau where the equator crosses Ecuador, a monument marks the line that divides the hemispheres. It commemorates the geodesic expedition that travelled to these mountains to measure an arc of meridian and settle a fundamental question of the age: the true shape of the Earth. That mission gave the country its name and made the equator part of Ecuador's national identity. The monument, a tall stepped pylon crowned by a globe, stands at the centre of a visitor complex with pavilions, museums and the painted line that every visitor straddles for a photograph. The episode takes the site seriously on three fronts: the history of the scientific expedition and its instruments, the architecture and symbolism of the monument itself, and the modern phenomenon of a place whose entire attraction is an invisible geographical abstraction made visible.
