The Angel of Independence, most commonly known by the shortened name El Ángel and officially known as Monumento a la Independencia, is a victory column on a roundabout on the major thoroughfare of Paseo de la Reforma in downtown Mexico City.
Angel of Independence
Nike on column top
Inauguration of the Independence Monument, 1910
The sculpture of the monument, having fallen after the 1957 Mexico earthquake.
Paseo de la Reforma is a wide avenue that runs diagonally across the heart of Mexico City. It was designed at the behest of Emperor Maximilian by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig during the era of the Second Mexican Empire and modeled after the great boulevards of Europe, such as the Ringstraße in Vienna and the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The planned grand avenue was to link the National Palace with the imperial residence, Chapultepec Castle, which was then on the southwestern edge of town. The project was originally named Paseo de la Emperatriz in honor of Maximilian's consort Empress Carlota. After the fall of the Empire and Maximilian's subsequent execution, the Restored Republic renamed the Paseo in honor of the La Reforma.
Paseo de la Reforma as seen from Chapultepec Castle
Paseo de la Reforma skyline
Nivel cero de la Ciudad de México, topographic monument 1875, to mark the path of the Paseo.
Ornate King Charles IV of Spain statue of the Paseo de la Reforma in the 19th century.