Monumento a la Revolución (El Salvador) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Monument to the Revolution ( es, Monumento a la Revolución, links=no) is a
The structure also functions as a
memorial arch
Memorial gates and arches are architectural monuments in the form of gates and arches or other entrances, constructed as a memorial, often dedicated to a particular war though some are dedicated to individuals. The function is similar to that of ...
commemorating the Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
. It is located in the Plaza de la República, near the heart of the major thoroughfares Paseo de la Reforma and Avenida de los Insurgentes
Avenida de los Insurgentes ( en, Avenue of the Insurgents), sometimes known simply as Insurgentes, is the longest avenue in Mexico City, with a length of on a north-south axis across the city. Insurgentes has its origins in what was during the ...
in downtown Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
.
History
Legislative building
The building was initially planned as thePalacio Legislativo Federal
The Palacio Legislativo Federal (Federal Legislative Palace) was a never-completed building for the legislative bodies of the Mexican Federal Republic.
History
By the end of the 19th century, the government of President Porfirio DÃaz, decided ...
(Federal Legislative Palace) during the regime of president Porfirio DÃaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio DÃaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio DÃaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...
and "was intended as the unequaled monument to Porfirian glory." The building would hold the congressional chambers of the deputies and senators, but the project was not finished due to the Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
.
Porfirio DÃaz appointed a French architect, Émile Bénard
Henri Jean Émile Bénard (June 23, 1844 – October 15, 1929) was a French architect and painter.
Bénard was the winner of the 1899 International Competition for the Phoebe A. Hearst Architectural Plan to design the campus of the University of ...
to design and construct the structure, a neoclassical design with "characteristic touches of the French renaissance," showing government officials' aim to demonstrate Mexico's rightful place as an advanced nation. DÃaz laid the first stone in 1910 during the centennial celebrations of Independence, when DÃaz also inaugurated the Monument to Mexican Independence ("The Angel of Independence"). The internal structure was made of iron, and rather than using local Mexican materials in the stone façade, the design called for Italian marble and Norwegian granite. The DÃaz regime was ousted in May 1911, but President Francisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and Public figure, statesman, who became the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in Ten Tragic Da ...
continued the project until his murder in 1913. After Madero's death, the project was cancelled and abandoned.
Monument
The structure remained unfinished for twenty-five years, until the presidency ofLázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas del RÃo (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.
Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the M ...
, when Mexican architect Carlos Obregón Santacilia
Carlos Obregón Santacilia (1896–1961) was a Mexican art déco architect. He trained at the Academy of San Carlos during the Mexican Revolution. He claimed a distinguished Mexican heritage, as great grandson of Benito Juárez and grand nephe ...
proposed converting the abandoned shell of the dome into a monument to the heroes of the Mexican Revolution. After this was approved, the structure began its eclectic Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
and Mexican socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...
conversion, building over the existing cupola structure. Mexican sculptor Oliverio MartÃnez
Oliverio Guillermo MartÃnez de Hoyos (January 30, 1901 – January 21, 1938) was a Mexican sculptor.
Biography
Oliverio MartÃnez was born in born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Piedras Negras, Mexico, in 1901. Several of his 15 siblings also wen ...
designed four stone sculpture groups for the monument, with Francisco Zúñiga
José Jesús Francisco Zúñiga ChavarrÃa (December 27, 1912 – August 9, 1998) was a Costa Rican-born Mexican artist, known both for his painting and his sculpture. Journalist Fernando González Gortázar lists Zúñiga as one of the 100 m ...
as one of his assistants. Work was completed in 1938.
The structure also functions as a mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
for the heroes of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Francisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and Public figure, statesman, who became the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in Ten Tragic Da ...
, Francisco "Pancho" Villa
Francisco "Pancho" Villa (,"Villa"
''Collins English Dictionary''. ; ;
, ''Collins English Dictionary''. ; ;
Venustiano Carranza
José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was a Mexican wealthy land owner and politician who was Governor of Coahuila when the constitutionally elected president Francisco I. Madero was overthrown in a February ...
, Plutarco ElÃas Calles, and Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas del RÃo (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.
Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the M ...
. Revolutionary general Emiliano Zapata is not buried in the monument, but rather in Cuautla, Morelos
Cuautla (, meaning "where the eagles roam"), officially La heroica e histórica Cuautla, Morelos (''The Heroic and Historic Cuautla, Morelos'') or H. H. Cuautla, Morelos, is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Morelos, about 104 kilome ...
. The Zapata family has resisted the Mexican government's efforts to relocate Zapata's remains to the monument.
References
External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Monumento a la Revolucion Art Deco architecture in Mexico Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City Mexican Revolution Monuments and memorials in Mexico City Paseo de la Reforma Military history of Mexico City