Here are 13 monuments and statues that you can find across Mexico City. Some are extremely well known, others, less so. There are probably more than a thousand statues across the city. This is just a teaser.
The author outside the Bellas Artes metro Station in Mexico City. Notice the Parisian-style metro sign:
1. Monument to the Revolution
The monument and underground museum also serve as a mausoleum for the fallen heroes of the Revolution. The monument is the final resting place of Francisco “Pancho” Villa, Francisco I. Madero, Plutarco Elías Calles, Venustiano Carranza, and Lázaro Cárdenas.
Location: Pl. de la República s/n, Tabacalera, Cuauhtémoc, 06030 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Opening hours:
- From 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM, Monday to Thursday
- From 12:00 PM to 10:00 PM, Friday and Saturday
- From 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM on Sunday
Tickets: If you want to climb up, you need to pay. Adults: 150 pesos
2. Monument to Mothers
On the right side, a man holding a book while writing; on the left side, a woman is shelling an ear of corn, representing the symbol of fertility. In the center the sculpture of a woman, serious and firm, carrying a small child wrapped in a shawl and sitting on the palms of his mother’s hands with the 40-meter-high tower behind her.
Location: Av. Insurgentes Sur, Calz. Manuel Villalongín entre, Cuauhtémoc, 06500 Ciudad de México, CDMX
3. Korea-Mexico Friendship Bell
The Korea-Mexico Friendship Bell is a smaller, exact copy of the Korean representative bell. Made of bronze and weighing 900 kg, it was donated to Mexico City in 2012.
Location: Av. Insurgentes Sur, Calz. Manuel Villalongín entre, Cuauhtémoc, 06500 Ciudad de México, CDMX
4. The Angel of Independence
Monumento a la Independencia was built in 1910 during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz by architect Antonio Rivas Mercado, to commemorate the centennial of the beginning of Mexico’s War of Independence.
Location: Av. P.º de la Reforma, Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, 06600 Ciudad de México, CDMX
5. Estela de Luz
The Stele of Light (officially the Monument to the Bicentennial of National Independence) is a monument in Mexico City built between 2010 and 2011, commemorating the bicentennial of Mexican independence and the centennial of the Mexican Revolution.
It’s at the western end of Paseo de la Reforma, at the entrance to Chapultepec Park.
Location: Lieja 270, Bosque de Chapultepec I Secc, Miguel Hidalgo, 11580 Ciudad de México, CDMX
6. Monument to Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, and the last Aztec Emperor.
Location: Av. P.º de la Reforma S/N, Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, 06600 Ciudad de México, CDMX
7. Plaza de la Constitución
The Plaza de la Constitución, informally known as El Zócalo, is the main square of Mexico City, approximately 57,600 m² and named in honour of the Constitution of Cádiz in 1812.
The Zócalo is located in the heart of the area known as the Historic Centre of Mexico City, in the Cuauhtémoc District. Its location was chosen by the Spanish conquistadors to establish it in an area close to what was formerly the political and religious centre of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, capital of the Mexica.
Despite my time here, I don’t have one single photo that is any good, so I am using a stock photo until I can add one of my own.
Location: P.za de la Constitución S/N, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06010 Ciudad de México, CDMX
8. Monument to the Mexican National Identity
Located on the intersection of José María Pino Suárez & Calle de Venustiano Carranza, in the Centro Histórico de la Ciudad. de México, half a block from the Plaza de la Constitución (above).
Designed by Carlos Marquina, the monument features an eagle perched atop a cactus, consuming a snake, a symbol that mirrors the imagery found on the Mexican flag. This representation commemorates the legendary founding of Tenochtitlan, the ancient Aztec capital.
Location: José María Pino Suárez & Calle de Venustiano Carranza, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06060 Ciudad de México, CDMX
9. El Caballito
El Caballito, officially Cabeza de caballo, the horse’s head, is a 28-metre (92 ft) sculpture by the Mexican sculptor, “Sebastián” (Enrique Carbajal), depicting a horse’s head.
It was installed in front of the Torre del Caballito, on Paseo de la Reforma in 1992, replacing the Estatua Ecuestre de Carlos IV (see below), which was removed in 1979. It also had a chimney for dissipating the bad smells from the city’s drainage.
Location: Av. P.º de la Reforma 10, Tabacalera, Cuauhtémoc, 06030 Ciudad de México, CDMX
10. Estatua Ecuestre de Carlos IV
The equestrian statue of Carlos IV of Spain is a bronze sculpture cast by Manuel Tolsá, built between 1796 and 1803.
It stands outside the National Art Museum in Mexico City.
Location: C. de Tacuba 5, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06010 Ciudad de México, CDMX
11. Beethoven Monument
The monument to Beethoven (1770-1827), designed by Theodor von Gosen, was donated by the German consulate in 1921 in commemoration of the centenary of the composer’s death.
It’s located at the eastern end of Alamada Central.
Location: Angela Peralta S/N, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06050 Ciudad de México, CDMX
12. Reloj Otomano
The Turkish government gifted Mexico this Ottoman Clock in 1910 as a sign of friendship and for the celebrations of the Centennial of Mexico’s Independence. Restored in 2010 by the governments of Turkey and Lebanon to commemorate the centennial of its delivery and the bicentennial of Mexico’s Independence.
You can find it on the corner of Calle de Venustiano Carranza y Simon Bolívar
Location: Calle de Bolívar 37, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06000 Ciudad de México, CDMX
13. The Eye of Mexico
The Eye of Mexico, created by Ouchhh Studio, is the first artificial intelligence sculpture in Latin America. The sculpture seeks to convey to the viewer the relationship between art, science, and technology, with urban planning and mobility. It is located as if it were the eye of Mexico City.
It is located at the centre of the new Neuchâtel Cuadrante Polanco architectural complex.
Location:Av. Río San Joaquín 498, Amp Granada, Miguel Hidalgo, 11529 Ciudad de México, CDMX