la condamine
Some history, Mateo, because your teachers won't tell you.
In 1736 the French sent an expedition here to measure the shape of the Earth. Was it fat at the middle or long at the poles? They spent almost ten years on the mountains around Quito with instruments, chains and a lot of complaining. La Condamine, Bouguer, Godin. One of them got killed in a fight at a bullfight in Cuenca. Science was more dangerous then.
They proved the Earth is fat at the middle. The monument is for them.
They were extraordinarily precise for 1736. The 240 metres is not their fault. The monument was built at the end of the 1970s with the measurements people had then. Before GPS, you did your best.
I did my best for 34 years. I respect them very much.