a memorial for all wars: the Polynational War Memorial
 

MEMORIALS

Monumento a la Revolución, Mexico City

Type: Physical memorial
Alternative name: The Arch of the Revolution
Location: Mexico City
Country: Mexico
Creator: Carlos Obregón Santacilia
Dedication year: 1938

Added: 8/11/2009
Updated: 10/18/2010 10:28:10 PM

Monumento a la Revolución, Mexico City
License: © | By: Sergio Peña | | enlarge
Monumento a la Revolución, Mexico City
License: © | By: Sergio Peña | | enlarge
Monumento a la Revolución, Mexico City
License: © | By: Sergio Peña | | enlarge
Monumento a la Revolución, Mexico City
License: © | By: Sergio Peña | | enlarge
Monumento a la Revolución, Mexico City
License: © | By: Sergio Peña | | enlarge

The Arch of the Revolution (Monumento a la Revolución), which is located on Avenida Juarez in Mexico City, was built between 1932 and 1938 to commemorate the revolutionary period of 1917 to 1929. It was designed by the architect Carlos Obregón Santacilia and the sculptor Oliverio Martinez on the old grounds of the Legislative Palace which was never built because of the outbreak of the revolution. In each column of the monument you will find mausoleums, as explained on the plaque depicted below: ”From the outset, the monument was designed to become a mausoleum. The presidential initiative to transfer the remains of Venustiano Carranza here was approved in 1936, although it was not moved to the crypt until the 5 of February of 1942. A presidential decree of the 4 of February of 1942 formally constituted it as a ’Pantheon of the outstanding men of the Revolution’. In 1960 the remains of Fransisco I. Madero were transferred; in 1969 those of Plutarco Elias Calles; in 1970 those of Lázaro Cárdenas and in 1976 those of Francisco Villa. All of them were placed in crypts prepared in the each of the four columns of the monument. For a long time the crypts remained closed and they were only opened during special ceremonies. Today, the Government of Cuidad of Mexico, with the help of the Delegation of Cuauhtémoc, opens this enclosure permanently for the public to pay tribute to the persons who fought for a just and democratic Mexico”.

The photographs on this page were taken by Sergio Peña in Mexico City in December 2004 and kindly donated to the project. © The Polynational War memorial.

 

POSTED BY JON BRUNBERG ON 8/11/2009

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