Cochasquí
Coordinates: 0 ° 3 ′ 18.2 " N , 78 ° 18 ′ 14.7" W.
Cochasquí is the largest pre-Columbian archaeological site in Ecuador with monumental architecture. It is located about 52 km north of Quito in the Pichincha province at an altitude of around 3100 meters.
The exact purpose of the system has not been fully deciphered. The only accessible and excavated platform of pyramid 13 was clearly used for astronomical observation and the fixing of the calendar. It was therefore certainly built as a ceremonial site. In addition, other archaeological sites lie in the directions of the important calendar dates of the solar year, such as the Catequilla site. The foresight of Cochasquí is accordingly impressive even when visiting today; When the weather is nice, you can see not only the Tumbaco Valley and the capital Quito (for whose culture the ceremonial site was supposedly built), but also far into the Sierra up to Cotopaxi, about 120 kilometers away .
15 larger and smaller truncated pyramids as well as at least 14 - in other sources 20 - burial mounds are present on the 84 hectare site. Nine of the pyramids have ramps, the longest of which is 290 meters long. The height of pyramid 5, the base of which was excavated, is around 16 meters. In the pyramid 9 there is a huge cut that was not opened by archaeologists but by grave robbers. All pyramids are mostly covered with earth and vegetation. Only at pyramid 9 is a wall exposed, where the steps made of volcanic Cangahua rock are visible.