| Monument to the Revolution | |
|---|---|
| Native name Monumento a la Revolución (Spanish) | |
 West facade and museum entrance | |
 Location in Mexico City | |
| Type | Monument |
| Location | Cuauhtémoc borough,Mexico City,Mexico |
| Built | 1910–1938 |
| Architect | |
TheMonument to the Revolution (Spanish:Monumento a la Revolución) is amemorial arch commemorating theMexican Revolution. It is located in the Plaza de la República, near the heart of the major thoroughfaresPaseo de la Reforma andAvenida de los Insurgentes in downtownMexico City. It is the tallest memorial arch in the world, standing 67 m (220 ft) high.[citation needed]
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The building was initially planned as thePalacio Legislativo Federal (Federal Legislative Palace) during the regime of presidentPorfirio Díaz and "was intended as the unequaled monument to Porfirian glory."[1] The building would hold the congressional chambers of the deputies and senators, but the project was not finished due to theMexican Revolution.
Porfirio Díaz appointed a French architect,Émile Bénard to design and construct the structure, a neoclassical design with "characteristic touches of the French renaissance,"[2] showing government officials' aim to demonstrate Mexico's rightful place as an advanced nation. Díaz laid the first stone in 1910 during the centennial celebrations of Independence, when Díaz also inaugurated theMonument to Mexican Independence ("The Angel of Independence").[1] 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.[1] The Díaz regime was ousted in May 1911, but PresidentFrancisco I. Madero continued the project until his murder in 1913.[1] After Madero's death, the project was cancelled and abandoned.
The structure remained unfinished for twenty-five years, until the presidency ofLázaro Cárdenas,[3] when Mexican architectCarlos Obregón Santacilia 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 eclecticArt Deco and Mexicansocialist realism conversion, building over the existing cupola structure.[4][5] Mexican sculptorOliverio Martínez designed four stone sculpture groups for the monument,[6] withFrancisco Zúñiga as one of his assistants. Work was completed in 1938.
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The structure also functions as amausoleum for the heroes of the Mexican Revolution of 1910,Francisco I. Madero,Francisco "Pancho" Villa,Venustiano Carranza,Plutarco Elías Calles, andLázaro Cárdenas. Revolutionary generalEmiliano Zapata is not buried in the monument, but rather inCuautla, Morelos. The Zapata family has resisted the Mexican government's efforts to relocate Zapata's remains to the monument.[7]
Media related toMonumento a la Revolución (México) at Wikimedia Commons19°26′10″N99°09′17″W / 19.43620°N 99.15464°W /19.43620; -99.15464
