The century of the Enlightenment will never cease to be a subject of curiosity. After the conquistadors came the scholars, who crossed the seas to explore the new continent. It was at this time that France sent an expedition of three scientists - Louis Godin, Pierre Bouger and Charles- Marie de La Condamine- to Ecuador to determine the true shape and the size of the earth. Arriving in Quito in 1736, they stayed there for nine years, calculating the length of a degree of the meridian in the neighborhood of the equator, and extended their studies to the volcanic activity of the Andes, which was particularly intense in the 18th century.
Their visit left an indelible mark on the country, since, almost a century later, in May 1830, the first Constitutional Assembly, which was given the responsibility of finding a name for the newly- independent state, reached an agreement to call it as the three scientists had, all those years before, by reasons of the line of equinox: the country of Ecuador.
In nine years, La Condamine and his friends acquainted themselves fully with this South Amercian land – The immense mountain chain, which crossed it from one end to the other, bearing some its towns up into the clouds, including Quito itself, the capital, which is perched an altitude of 2800 metres; its high, silent plateaus, which separate snow- covered mountains and volcanoes; its interminable tropical coast, turned towards the Pacific, majestic and disturbing when, each evening, it offers up its sunset; its other ocean; its green and humid jungle, called the “Oriente”, which is traversed by long watercourses; its innumerable churches, as well as its colonial squares and proud haciendas.
The three scientists criss- crossed the country a number of times, attaching themselves here and there to the life of a house or a family that invited them in. This was the case with the Marqués de Maenza, who had them to stay on several occasions in his hacienda. “La Cienega”, around sixty kilometers from Quito, one of the oldest estates in Ecuador and certainly one of the most beautiful. It had eight thousand hectares of crops and livestock. Its great white house, its shady patio and its little chapel, cool and luminous, were in the spirit of the few haciendas that existed at the time. La Condamine stayed three several times, on the handy pretext of carrying out volcanic studies; and indeed the imposing volcano of Cotopaxi was not all that far away.
At the time, three regions, or rather three towns, were jostling for pre- eminence. They had all sprung up in the colonial 16th century: Cuenca and Quito were borne up by the Andes, while the port of Guayaquil was spread out languidly on the Pacific coast.
In this country of endless contrast, where coast and sierra seem to ignore each other, to turn their back on each other; the toquilla straw hat had already established itself. And in the prevailing rivalry, it first chose Guayaquil, which, being entirely turned towards other worlds could not but fascinate. Ships laden with gold, then sugar, coffee or cacao set sail for the Isthmus of Panama, which gradually, with time, became the primary trading centre of South America. From there, the merchandise made its way to Europe, or North America. And the first “montecristis” no doubt followed this route in the baggage of traders, scientists and sea- captains making their way home.
