The Hemiciclo a Juárez is a cenotaph – an empty tomb – erected in honour of Don Benito Juárez García, former Mexican president, whose remains rest in the Pantheon of San Fernando.
This Carrara marble building was built in 1910 by order of Porfirio Díaz, who led the inauguration ceremony on September 18, 1910 as part of the celebrations of the Centennial of Independence.
Designed by architect Guillermo Heredia, the Hemiciclo a Juárez is the most important monument dedicated to the Meritorious of the Americas.
The central body of the monument, flanked by six Doric columns on each side, has a festoon and a medallion of laurels in the centre of which the following legend can be read:
“To Benito Juarez. The Homeland.”
In the lower part of the central body is the symbolic tomb crowned by a republican eagle with its wings outstretched; its base is decorated with pre-Hispanic grecas and supported by a lion lying on each side.
The sculptural ensemble at the end of the hemicycle represents Benito Juárez seated between two allegories: the Homeland, on his right, which crowns him with laurels, and the Law.
Timetable: Free.
Location: Av. Juárez s/n, Cuauhtémoc, Centro, 06010 Mexico City.