Parks and SquaresHemicycle to Benito JuarezCiudad de México

Located on Avenida Juarez in the Alameda Central, the oldest public park in the city of Mexico and the American continent, the Hemicycle to Juarez is a cenotaph, an empty tomb, erected in honor of Benito Juarez García, former Mexican president, who is buried in the Pantheon of San Fernando, one of the oldest cemeteries in the capital.

This building in Carrara marble was built in 1910 by order of Porfirio Diaz, who led the opening ceremony on September 18, 1910 as part of the celebrations of the Centenary of Independence.

Description of the Hemicycle to Juarez:
Designed by architect Guillermo Heredia, the Hemicycle to Juarez is the most important monument dedicated to the Glory of the Americas.
It has a height of 7 meters and a weight of 70 tons. The sculptures that adorn it were made by the Italian sculptor Lanzaroni.

The central part of the monument, flanked by four Doric columns on each side, holds a scallop and a medallion made up laurels in the center in which you can read the following legend:

"To the Glorious Benito Juárez. The Fatherland."

At the bottom is the symbolic tomb crowned by the Republican eagle with open wings.  Its base is adorned with a pre-Hispanic border and is supported by a lion lying on each side.

The sculpture that tops the Chamber represents Benito Juarez seated between two allegories: the country, on the right, which is crowned with laurels, and the Law.

How to get there: Metro Bellas Artes and Hidalgo stations.