Friday, August 7, 2026 My Trip EnglishChinese
World news · travel · culture
Taiwan The Taiwan Times
Taiwan's window to the world
Mountain

El Altar volcano

Ecuador · Americas

El Altar volcano
El Altar volcano. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

About

El Altar or Capac Urcu (possibly from Kichwa kapak principal, great, important / magnificence, urku mountain) is an extinct volcano on the western side of Sangay National Park in Ecuador, 170 km (110 mi) south of Quito, with a highest point of 5,319 m (17,451 ft). Spaniards named it so because it resembled two nuns and four friars listening to a bishop around a church altar. In older English sources it is also called The Altar.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.

More mountains in Ecuador