The Benito Juárez Hemicycle is a Neoclassical monument located at the

Alameda Central Alameda Central is a public urban park in downtown Mexico City. Created in 1592, the Alameda Central is the oldest public park in the Americas. It is located in Cuauhtémoc borough, adjacent to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, between Juárez Aven ...

park in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and commemorating the Mexican statesman

Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican liberal politician and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. As a Zapotec, he was the first indigenous pre ...

. The statue of Juárez is flanked by marble

Doric column The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of c ...

s. There are two allegorical female statues next to Juárez, representing the fatherland and law. The

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

bears the inscription "Al benemerito Benito Juárez la Patria" (Spanish: "To the meritorious Benito Juárez, the Homeland"). It was depicted on the reverse of the 20

peso The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

bill of Series C and D, issued in 1994.

History

The construction began in 1906 it mark the centennial of Juárez's birth. The engineers for the construction of the monument were assigned by Porfirio Díaz. Statues were sculpted by the Italian artist Alessandro Lazzerini.DBI
/ref> The monument was dedicated on September 18, 1910.

Style

It is Neoclassical style, semicircular, with strong Greek influence; it has twelve Doric columns, supporting an entablature and frieze structure of the same order. On both sides it has two golden spikes. At the center is a sculpture composed of Benito Juarez seated with two allegories: one representing the homeland crowning Juarez with laurels in the presence of a second that represents the law in the basement has festoons, another sculpture center that chairs a republican eagle with open wings in a facing, with neoaztec frets, which lie two lions. On the central pillar there is a medallion surrounded by a laurel, inscribed with the following;

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benito Juarez Hemicycle 1910 establishments in Mexico 1910 sculptures Alameda Central Allegorical sculptures Buildings and structures completed in 1910 Monuments and memorials in Mexico City Neoclassical architecture in Mexico Outdoor sculptures in Mexico City Sculptures of men in Mexico Sculptures of women in Mexico Statues in Mexico City Benito Juárez