Viva la revolución

Monumento a la Revolución, a.k.a, the Monument to the Revolution

The extra-long weekend getaway to Mexico City ends in Revolution. The Mexican Revolution.

Here's your brief Mexican history lesson. The Mexican Revolution was fought from 1910 to 1920. It essentially was a civil war against an entrenched elite who held onto power through a process that had a thin veneer of democracy. Mexican independence from Spain happened about a hundred years earlier in the 1820's. Mexico successfully fought a war against France in the 1860's, victory in that war being achieved on May 5. Hence: Cinco de Mayo. A day gringos use a victory in a non-critical war as an excuse to drink muchas margaritas and weak, flavorless Mexican beer.

You can't just wander the underground part of the monument willy-nilly. Or Guillermo-Nillermo, which I believe would be the Spanish language translation. But look closer at the sign to the left.

No entry if you are wearing a sombrero? (Thank God I left mine back at the hotel.) You are prohibited from entering if you are dressed in stereotypical Mexican garb? (Thank God I was dressed as a gringo turista.)

Back to the regular programming. Construction began on the Monument in 1910, with this supposedly being a monument to the centennial of Mexican independence. But events got in the way. Construction was not completed until 1938, at which point it was rechristened Monumento a la Revolución, the Monument to the Revolution, recently ended, rather than independence, a distant memory.

Underneath the monument is a small museum about the monument.

It doesn't take long to walk through, even reading the exhibits, and at the end of the museum walk is this:

The elevator to the top, where an observation deck awaits.

And that is all the higher the elevator goes.

This is the top observation, which is open air.

The views are very nice. But they're open air.

Definitely should've done this earlier in the day when the sun was shining.

This the walkway. It sure could use a higher plexiglas barricade, don't you think?

All those people who've never been to Mexico City who, when they hear you are going to Mexico City, keep imploring you to "be safe," "be safe," "be safe," have two things legitimately in mind. Crossing a street in heavy Mexico City traffic. And that walkway right there.

At the top of the monument, on each corner, are statues gigante.

Here is the explanation, since the head-on view is not possible at this particular level of the Monument.

This is a lower observation deck. Oh, did I tell you, you take the elevator up, but you walk the stairs down. Not as knee-unfriendly, however, as you would fear. But still not ADA accessible. 

And here's another of the corner statues gigante:

And the explanation of what you are sort of seeing (in profile) on plexiglas.

As you start climbing down, there are some exhibits to see. This is an exhibit about the sculptor of these statues gigante: Oliverio Martinez.

That's Mr. Martinez on the left, with the head of one of his statues.

This is a photograph of the piecing together of these statues gigantes.

And meet the project's architect.

Carlos Obregón Santacilia. On the left. That's the monument on the right.

And here is the interior stairwell that I've neglected to show you:

After been inside, and seeing the exhibits, especially the ones about Mr. Martinez and his sculptures gigantes, the corner statues really pop out in a way that they did not before:

 

Let's use the camera's close up zoom feature to get a closer look at one of the statues:

A very nice way to end an extra-long weekend getaway to Mexico City. Flights are cheap. The food is beyond awesome. There's a ton of things to do. I could see myself making another trip here. ¡Viva la revolución!