The Virgin of El Panecillo is an aluminum statue on top of El Panecillo, a loaf-shaped hill in central Quito, Ecuador. The Spanish sculptor Agustín de la Herrán Matorras designed it, and it was finished on March 28, 1975. It replicates the Virgin of Quito, a wooden sculpture made by Bernardo de Legarda in 1734.
The statue is 135 feet (41 meters) tall including its base, which makes it taller than Brazil's Christ the Redeemer and the tallest aluminum statue in the world. It is made of 7,400 numbered aluminum pieces. The statue was taken apart, shipped to Ecuador and reassembled on its base.
The dragon at the Virgin's feet follows the usual image of the Woman of the Apocalypse. The hill is 656 feet (200 meters) high, and viewing platforms give 180-degree views of the city. The statue hosts annual Nativity illuminations.
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