The Angel of Independence is a victory column on a roundabout on Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City. Porfirio Díaz ordered it in 1900. Antonio Rivas Mercado led the design, and Enrique Alciati made the sculptures. A steel frame is covered in stone. It was inaugurated on September 16, 1910, the hundredth anniversary of the Grito de Dolores.
The column is 118 feet (36 meters) tall. On top stands Nike, a bronze figure covered in 24-karat gold, 22 feet (6.7 meters) high and weighing seven tons. She holds a laurel crown and a broken chain with three links. The base carries bronze figures for law, war, justice and peace.
In 1906 the first structure collapsed and was rebuilt. The 1957 earthquake threw the Nike down, and it was restored. A mausoleum beneath the base holds the remains of Hidalgo, Morelos, Allende and other independence heroes.
Comments