Monumento a la Raza (Mexico City)

The Monumento a la Raza is a 50 meters (160 ft) high pyramid in northern Mexico City. It is located in the intersection of Avenida de los Insurgentes, Circuito Interior and Calzada Vallejo, in the Cuauhtémoc borough.

Monumento a la Raza
The north side of the monument in 2006
Location within Mexico City
Coordinates19°27′52″N 99°08′33″W
LocationMexico City, Mexico
DesignerFrancisco Borbolla (engineer) and Luis Lelo de Larrea (architect)
TypePyramid
MaterialConcrete
Height50 meters (160 ft)
Beginning date1930
Completion date1940
Opening date12 October 1940
Dedicated dateDía de la Raza
Dedicated toLa Raza

The monument consists of three superimposed truncated pyramids decorated with several sculptures on the sides and an eagle on the tip. The pyramid was designed by Francisco Borbolla and the stone sculptures and its layout by Luis Lelo de Larrea. The copper-and-steel eagle and the bronze high reliefs were created by Mexican sculptor Jesús Fructuoso Contreras; the former was intended to be placed on top of the never-completed Federal Legislative Palace—later replaced with the Monumento a la Revolución in downtown Mexico City—, while the reliefs were based on those created for the Aztec Palace, presented in the Mexican pavilion of the 1889 Paris Exposition.

Its construction started in 1930 and was completed ten years later. It was inaugurated in 1940, on the Día de la Raza (Columbus Day), and it is dedicated to la Raza—the indigenous peoples of the Americas and their descendants.

Background
Main article: Indigenismo in Mexico

At the beginning of the 20th century, Mexico was in a period of transformation. President Porfirio Díaz governed the country intermittently from 1876 to 1911. During his term, known as the Porfiriato, Díaz boosted the economy through the improvement of the railroad network and international businesses. This benefited the upper class and hacendados (landowners) but affected the middle, working, and underclasses.[1] The indigenous population was seen as a problem for the country's modernization and the government sought means to facilitate their integration into the Porfirian society.[2] In 1911, Diaz was forced to resign after the Mexican Revolution broke out.[3] The conflict lasted until 1920 and the Europhile government was replaced with one that promoted indigenismo[4]—a political ideology that exalts the Latin American indigenous population.

In 1925, José Vasconcelos (1882–1959), Mexican philosopher, published the essay "The Cosmic Race", where he wrote that as the Native American genes were the last ones to be mixed with the other human races, a new race would surge to create Universópolis, where the distinctions of race and nationality would be suppressed.[5]

Name

The monument is dedicated to and is named after la Raza,[6] a Spanish-language term referring to the indigenous peoples of the Americas and their descendants, and used by Hispanophone Western populations that spread after the end of the Mexican Revolution and with the beginning of the Chicano Movement in the United States.[7]

La Raza is literally translated to English as "the race", but the phrasal sense is "the people".[7] Thus, the Monumento a la Raza is known in English by different names, including "Monument to the Race",[8] "Monument to the People",[9] "Monument to La Raza",[6] and "La Raza Monument".[10]

History and construction
The pyramid under construction in the late 1930s

The construction of the Monumento a la Raza started in 1930.[6][11] The project was sponsored by the government[9] and was designed by the engineer Francisco Borbolla and the architect Luis Lelo de Larrea.[12][13] Borbolla intended to reflect the history of Mexico in the monument;[13] Lelo de Larrea was advised by Mexican architect Augusto Petriccioli.[14] It was completed in 1940 and it was inaugurated on that 12 October—the Día de la Raza.[13]

Location

The monument lies on the median strip of Avenida de los Insurgentes, near Circuito Interior and Calzada Vallejo,[15] in the colonia (neighborhood) San Simón Tolnáhuac, in the Cuauhtémoc borough.[16] The monument can be visited daily from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.[16] Access to the monument was temporarily closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico.[17]

Description
The Aztec Palace presented by Mexico at the 1889 Paris Exposition

The Monumento a la Raza is a 50 meters (160 ft) high pyramid[12] built with three superimposed truncated pyramids[18] made of concrete.[19] It has four sides, each built with sloped smooth walls over the rafters, and that are decorated as well with reliefs based on the Xochicalco's Feathered Serpent.[12]

The sculpture of the eagle on top is placed on a pedestal[12] and it is made of copper and steel.[20] It has the wings spread; the wingspan is 5.75 meters (18.9 ft) long and it stands on a nopal plant while devouring a 5.30 meters (17.4 ft) long snake.[12] The sculpture was designed by Jesús Fructuoso Contreras for the Porfirian Federal Legislative Palace.[12][21] By the time Díaz was removed from the presidency, only the foundations had been built. Years later, Mexican architect Carlos Obregón Santacilia replaced the project with the Monumento a la Revolución.[22]

Each side of the pyramid at the top features one high relief created with bronze castings by Contreras.[6][21] They represent the Tlatoque Itzcoatl (1380–1440), ruler of Tenochtitlan; Nezahualcoyotl (1402–1472), ruler of Texcoco; Totoquihuatzin (c. early 16th century), ruler of Tlacopan; and the last Aztec Emperor Cuauhtémoc (c. 1497–1525).[12] Contreras cast them for the Aztec Palace, presented in the Mexican pavilion at the 1889 Paris Exposition.[6][21]

At the base, there are two staircases: the south one connects with the top of the monument; the north one with the main door. At the start of each staircase, there are sculptures of Tenochtitlan-inspired serpent heads. On the remaining sides, there are two sculptures by Lelo de Larrea: Grupo de la fundación de México on the east and Grupo defensa de Tenochtitlán on the west.[12]

  • A replica of the eagle on top of the monument
  • A bronze casting of Itzcoatl (north side)
  • A bronze casting of Totoquihuatzin (west side)
  • A bronze casting of Nezahualcoyotl (south side)
  • A bronze casting of Cuauhtémoc (east side)
  • Grupo de la fundación de México (east side)
  • Detail of the relief based on the Feathered Serpent

Reception

Santacilia called the Monumento a la Raza "ridiculous" and said it was a caricature of the Pre-Columbian architecture.[19] Mexican writer Nikito Nipongo (1918–2003) thought it was "espantoso" ("dreadful").[23] According to historian Mauricio Tenorio-Trillo, the monument is an irony, because it tries to apart "from the old regime's Francophilia", yet it recycles many of the symbols and materials "created by the Porfirian years of experimenting in modernity and nationalism".[6] Writer Donald R. Fletcher described it as an "imposing Mayan pyramid".[24]

La Raza metro station, located nearby the monument, depicts the monument in its pictogram and is named after it.[25][26]

References
  1. Castañeda, Diego (8 January 2019). "¿Cómo era la desigualdad en México antes de que estallara la Revolución mexicana?" [How was inequality in Mexico before the Mexican Revolution bursted out?]. Nexos (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  2. Stavenhagen, Rodolfo (2013). "La política indigenista del Estado mexicano y los pueblos indígenas en el siglo XX" [The indigenous policy of the Mexican State and the indigenous peoples in the 20th century] (PDF) (in Spanish). National Autonomous University of Mexico. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  3. Aggarwal 1996, pp. 188.
  4. Sánchez González, Agustín (2 November 2020). "Día de Muertos, ¿tradición prehispánica o invención del siglo XX?" [Día de Muertos, custom or a 20th century invention?]. Arqueología Mexicana (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  5. Latino USA (25 April 2014). "The Cosmic Race". NPR. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. Tenorio-Trillo 1996, pp. 182.
  7. Associated Press (13 July 2017). "Why The Term 'La Raza' Has Complicated Roots In The US". Colorado Public Radio. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  8. Fletcher 2013, pp. 84.
  9. Burian 1997, pp. 83.
  10. Denness 2010, pp. 112.
  11. Andrade, Karen (2 August 2016). "Así era la CDMX en los años 40" [This is what Mexico City was like in the 1940s]. máspormás (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  12. "¿Qué pasó ahí?... El Monumento a la Raza" [What Happened There?... The Monumento a la Raza]. Excélsior (in Spanish). Mexico City. 18 October 2013. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  13. Moreno, Fernando (21 May 2018). "El México de Ayer: Monumento a la Raza" [Mexico's Yesterday: Monumento a la Raza]. A Quien Corresponda (in Spanish). TV Azteca (published at YouTube). Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  14. Fierro Gossman 1998, pp. 27.
  15. Peralta, Carolina (14 January 2018). "El Monumento a la Raza que la ciudad se devoró" [The Monumento a la Raza that the city devoured] (in Spanish). Local.mx. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  16. "Monumento a la Raza" (in Spanish). Government of Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  17. Reforma (4 April 2020). "Acordona Alcaldía en CDMX parques y jardines" [City Hall in Mexico City cordons off parks and gardens]. Debate (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  18. Romero 1994, pp. 180.
  19. Obregón Santacilia 1960, pp. 33.
  20. "Monumento a La Raza". La Verdad. 13 April 2020. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  21. Villasana, Carlos; Gómez, Ruth (2 January 2021). "El estilo que rescata nuestros orígenes" [The style that rescues our origins]. El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  22. Amador Tello, Judith (19 April 2015). "El Palacio Legislativo que quedó en Monumento a la Revolución" [The Legislative Palace that remained in the Monument to the Revolution]. Proceso (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  23. Nipongo 2001, pp. 132.
  24. Tenorio-Trillo 2013, pp. 84.
  25. "La Raza" (in Spanish). Sistema de Transporte Colectivo. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  26. "Estación La Raza del STC Metro" [Mexico City Metro's La Raza Station] (in Spanish). Secretariat of Culture. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

Bibliography

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