A giant manger illuminates the Ecuadorian capital on top of Panecillo

A giant manger illuminates the Ecuadorian capital on top of Panecillo



The Ecuadorian capital illuminates today from its giant manger on the top of the Panecillo, a hill nestled in the colonial town of the city, and with it begins the period of the Christmas holidays.

The figures of José, the manger, the three wise men, a donkey and an ass, made of metal structures anchored to concrete bases and illuminated by thousands of lights, accompany the Virgin of Legarda, a permanent monument that crowns the Panecillo.

The Virgin, with a height of 45 meters, and José, 40, are the tallest structures of the composition that is distributed along the plain of the hill, an emblematic elevation that at the time was a sacred site of the Incas .

The Virgin is a giant aluminum sculpture made in 1975 by the Spanish Agustín de la Herrán Matorras, which was based on the statuette of Legarda, one of the most important representatives of the Quito school of the seventeenth century.

To one side of the Virgin stands the image of José today, with a mantle of red and yellow lights and crowned by a white halo that covers his head illuminated by led light.

On the other side of the Virgin, the three wise men appear to ascend the mountain to meet the manger, where they wait for an ass and a cow for the birth of Jesus.

The lights of the houses of El Panecillo configure the scene that reflects the essence of the Christmas season.

The mayor of Quito, Mauricio Rodas, along with his wife María Fernanda Pacheco, who chairs the Municipal Board "San José", and the beauty queen of the city, Daniela Almeida, led the birth of the Nativity.

The lights of the gigantic stage were lit from a hill next to the Panecillo, the Itchimbia, from where there is a direct view of the manger, and where the authorities, in a countdown, operated the mechanism to turn on the lighting.

Rodas said that the lighting of the manger also seeks to attract tourism and improve the commercial and economic dynamics of that sector of the city.

With its 3,035 meters of altitude, the top of El Panecillo is visible to most of the capital, a city located on an Andean plateau surrounded by great mountains.

The installation of the manger is made since 2002, when the original structures were made, although since last year they have been restored and laid with new foundations, more solid and structurally better designed to withstand strong winds and eventual earthquakes, said Efe Efraín Bonilla , coordinator of administration of Parks and Green Spaces Administration of the Municipality of Quito.

The scenario "is totally renewed so that there is greater security", and for the next year a flange system will be adapted to the demountable figures "so that it can be more agile the armed and disarmed" of the images, he added.

The work to prepare the manger began last September and already in the final phase, 19,200 colored light bulbs have been installed to make the mantles of the figures and 1,200 meters of led light tape for the contours.

In addition, added Bonilla, the Virgin of Legarda since last year has permanent ornamental lighting and programmable, with colored LED lights.

The lighting of the nativity scene takes place at this time to cover the two festivities of the time in the city, since, in addition to Christmas, on December 6 the Spanish foundation of Quito is celebrated.

As it has become a tradition for the people of Quito, at the base of the manger are usually organized novenas to which many people go, especially tourists attracted by the giant figures.

This "reactivates the economy, boosts the economy of that part of the city," remarked Bonilla, stating that the huge manger will be lit at night until the Day of Kings, on January 6, because the next day is scheduled to be disassembled .

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