A Guide to Mexico City’s Most Important Statues and Monuments

Anyone who has visited, or even just passed by, the Palacio de Bellas Artes will be familiar with the numerous statues in its external plaza. Some of the most reconizable of these are the four Pegasus statues designed by Catalan Agustí Querol Subirats which were originally placed in the Zócalo, before moving to their current home.

Mexico Animals Dogs Monument | © OMAR TORRES/AFP via Getty Images

A symbol of modern Mexico City and the work of Sebastián, one of the greatest Mexican artists, El Caballito de Sebastián can be found on Paseo de la Reforma. This huge sculpture-monument is a vast yellow construction that stands out among the sea of gray hotels and office buildings that line this avenue.

This bronze statue, located in the center of Mexico City, also used to go by the name of El Caballito, although with the more recent arrival of Sebastián’s modern, minimalist ‘little horse’, the Estatua Ecuestre de Carlos IV more often goes by the name El Antiguo Caballito (the old little horse) nowadays. It is considered one of sculptor Manuel Tolsá’s masterpieces.

The monument to Christopher Columbus, Monumento a Colón is situated on Paseo de la Reforma. Designed in Paris by Enrique Cordier, it was first unveiled in 1877. Now emblematic of Mexico City, the Monumento a Colón is also a must-see statue the next time you’re in the capital.

This semi-circular structure is located opposite the Museo de Memoria y Tolerancia in Alameda Central park and was built in 1910, after an order given by then-president Porfirio Díaz. Made of carrara marble, it commemorates Mexican statesman Benito Juárez.

Another excellent statue on Paseo de la Reforma is La Diana Cazadora, which features as the centerpiece of a fountain. The statue is a depiction of the Roman goddess of the hunt, Diana, and was first revealed in 1942 as part of then-Mexican president Ávila Camacho’s plans to beautify the city through the development of fountains. La Diana Cazadora nowadays serves as a homage to the strength, beauty and freedom of womankind.

This monument was relocated several times before finally coming to the place it now calls home in the north of Mexico City. These twin figures honor a pair of Aztec gods known as Itzcóatl and Ahuizotl and are called ‘green Indians’ because the bronze from which they are made discolored over time, giving the monument a green hue.

A direct copy of the Fuente de Cibeles in Madrid, the Mexican version replicates the neoclassical style of its Spanish predecessor albeit in bronze rather than marble. One of most emblematic landmarks in Mexico City, this statue was installed in 1980 and depicts the Roman goddess Cybele pulled in a carriage drawn by lions.

If towering columns are the kind of thing you look for in monuments, the Monumento a los Niños Héroes is the place for you. Nestled in the heart of Bosque de Chapultepec, the location of this monument in the largest urban green space in Mexico City practically guarantees it a level of importance, and it isn’t undeserved. Built in memory of the so-called niños héroes who defended the Castillo de Chapultepec from invading US forces, it is now a focal point of the park.

El Ángel de la Independencia is situated on Paseo de la Reforma, one of the largest and most important avenues in Mexico City. Whille the Paseo is lined with statues of all types, the 118ft (36m) high Ángel is arguably the star of the metaphorical show. Originally opened in 1910, it is also the location of some of the biggest annual Independence Day celebrations in the city, the 100th anniversary of which it was built to commemorate.

Easily the most well-known and recognizable monument in Mexico City is the Monumento a la Revolución. This towering art deco edifice is the largest triumphal arch in the world and was 28 years in the making. Now a mausoleum, holding the remains of some of the biggest players in the Mexican Revolution, such as Pancho Villa and Venustiano Carranzo among others, the Monumento a la Revolución is one of the top landmarks to see in Mexico City.

Christopher Columbus isn’t the only historical figure honored along the Paseo de la Reforma, however, as there is also a statue dedicated to Cuauhtémoc, the last Tlatoani. The pedestal upon which he stands is decorated in numerous pre-Hispanic motifs, making it perhaps the most nationalistic of the statues on Paseo. It’s an impressive piece either way, and was originally designed and started by engineer Francisco M Jiménez.

This monument marks a crucial aspect of Mexican history, the moment the sign promised by the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli became apparent to a group of Aztecs. The sign was, of course, an eagle eating a snake, perched atop a cactus – you can now see this image gracing the center of the Mexican flag, among other things. First inaugurated in 1970, it gives an insight into Mexican mythology and culture.