↑ ↓ to move ↵ to open esc to close
    The copper-domed Monumento a la Revolución on the Plaza de la República, Mexico City

    Photo by Carlos Valenzuela, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Monumento a la Revolución

    Landmark Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad de México Municipality of Cuauhtémoc Valley of Mexico

    Díaz's unfinished parliament turned Art Deco arch and mausoleum: ride the glass lift to the 360° deck, then climb to the lantern.

    From Toluca: 1 h by car (68 km by road) How to get there ↓

    Near here

    See everything nearby ↓

    Plan your visit to Monumento a la Revolución

    Where to stay near Monumento a la Revolución

    Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Monumento a la Revolución.

    Hotels in Monumento a la Revolución Houses on Vrbo

    Tours to Monumento a la Revolución

    Look for tours of the area around Tepotzotlán that stop at Monumento a la Revolución.

    Night Tour of Mexico City Panoramic Ride on a Double-Decker Bus ★ 3.3 (123) · From US$11
    Find tours on Viator GetYourGuide

    How to get to Monumento a la Revolución

    • From Toluca: about 1 h by road (~68 km)
    • Nearest airport: Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles) (NLU), 48 min by car to Tepotzotlán
    Rent a car at NLU Flights to NLU

    Route, map and directions ↓

    Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.

    Popular tours to Monumento a la Revolución

    Night Tour of Mexico City Panoramic Ride on a Double-Decker Bus ★ 3.3 (123) 45 min From US$11
    Mexico City Bike Tour: Pedal through Historic Landmarks ★ 5.0 (1) 4 h From US$80

    Tours, prices and ratings from Viator, checked weekly. We may earn a commission if you book.

    About Monumento a la Revolución

    The Monumento a la Revolución is the great copper-domed arch at the center of the Plaza de la República, in Colonia Tabacalera, a few blocks west of the Alameda. At 67 meters it is usually described as the tallest triumphal arch in the world, but it began life as something else. Porfirio Díaz commissioned a vast Federal Legislative Palace from the French architect Émile Bénard, meant to house both chambers of Congress and to outdo the Capitol in Washington, and laid its first stone on 23 September 1910 during the independence centennial. The steel skeleton rose on a bed of some 17,000 piles, but the Revolution broke out, work stopped after Madero's death in 1913, and the frame rusted for two decades.

    In 1933, as the steel was being taken down for scrap, the architect Carlos Obregón Santacilia noticed that the central dome of the planned Salón de los Pasos Perdidos was still sound and proposed turning it into a monument to the Revolution. Between 1933 and 1938 he clad it in light cantera and dark volcanic stone in a sober Art Deco style and covered the dome in copper, while Oliverio Martínez carved the four huge sculpture groups at its corners, representing Independence, the Reform Laws and the agrarian and labor laws. From 1942 the pillars became crypts: Venustiano Carranza, Francisco I. Madero, Plutarco Elías Calles, Lázaro Cárdenas and, in 1976, Pancho Villa are buried here, men who were often bitter enemies in life.

    A big restoration for the Revolution's centenary reopened it in 2010 with a glass panoramic elevator. Today the visit begins among the original foundations, then the lift takes you up to a 360-degree viewing deck over Reforma and the city; from there more than 100 steps inside the steel structure lead up to the lantern at the very top, and you come back down by brass spiral stairs. Underneath the plaza, the separate Museo Nacional de la Revolución, opened in 1986, tells the story from the 1857 Constitution to the Cárdenas years. The plaza itself, with dancing fountains that kids run through, comes alive at dusk when the monument is lit.

    How to get to Monumento a la Revolución

    Drive from Toluca: 1 h, 68 km

    The monument stands in the Plaza de la República, Colonia Tabacalera, between Paseo de la Reforma and Avenida de los Insurgentes. By Metro, Revolución station (Line 2) is a couple of blocks north on Avenida México-Tenochtitlan; by Metrobús, Line 1 on Insurgentes has a Plaza de la República stop right by the square. From the Alameda you can walk there heading west.

    Directions to Monumento a la Revolución on Google Maps

    Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.

    Where to stay Hotels in Monumento a la Revolución Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Monumento a la Revolución. See prices →

    Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.

    From the nearest cities to Monumento a la Revolución

    Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic or stops. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.

    Before you go to Monumento a la Revolución: hours, prices and tips

    Hours
    Monday to Thursday noon to 8 pm, Friday and Saturday noon to 10 pm, Sunday 10 am to 8 pm. The Museo Nacional de la Revolución below has its own hours: Tuesday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm, weekends 9 am to 7 pm. Monumento a la Revolución · checked Oct 2026
    Entry
    The monument visit with the elevator and viewing deck costs 150 pesos (130 for children under 12, students, teachers and INAPAM seniors); tickets also sell online through Fever. The museum under the plaza is a separate 40 pesos, half price with student, teacher or INAPAM card, and free on Sundays. Posta (citing the monument's website) · checked Oct 2026
    Best time of day
    Come toward evening: the plaza's musical fountains play in roughly 20-minute shows and look best at night with the monument lit up. Wikipedia · checked Oct 2026
    Rules
    Reaching the lantern at the top means climbing and descending more than 100 steps inside the metal structure. Posta · checked Oct 2026

    Hours and prices change, especially around holidays. Each fact links to where we checked it.

    Visiting Monumento a la Revolución: what to see and do

    Walk among the original 1910 foundations at the start of the visit.
    Ride the glass panoramic elevator to the 360-degree viewing deck over Reforma.
    Climb the steps inside the steel frame to the lantern, the highest point.
    See Oliverio Martínez's four sculpture groups up close from the deck.
    Pay respects at the crypts of Madero, Carranza, Villa, Calles and Cárdenas in the pillars.
    Visit the Museo Nacional de la Revolución under the plaza, free on Sundays.
    Stay for dusk, when the monument is lit and the plaza fountains play.

    Plan your trip

    Places to stay in Monumento a la Revolución

    Compare hotels, posadas, and rentals in and around Monumento a la Revolución.

    See them all on Expedia Booking.com
    Vacation rentals on Vrbo Airbnb

    Tours & activities

    Look for tours of the area around Tepotzotlán that stop at Monumento a la Revolución.

    Viator GetYourGuide

    Rental cars

    Pick up a car at NLU (Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles)): about 48 min by road to Tepotzotlán, then 32 km more to Monumento a la Revolución, on your own schedule.

    EconomyBookings Discover Cars

    Flights

    The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles) (NLU), about 48 min by road from Tepotzotlán, the base for Monumento a la Revolución.

    Kiwi.com

    Travel insurance

    Medical and trip cover for Mexico, by the week or month.

    SafetyWing

    Mobile data

    Signal can drop away from Tepotzotlán: download a map of the way to Monumento a la Revolución before you set out, or carry an eSIM with data.

    Airalo

    Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.

    When to go to Monumento a la Revolución cool

    Monumento a la Revolución shares the climate of Tepotzotlán, 32 km away. The best months to visit are January, February, March, and December.

    See the month-by-month climate of Tepotzotlán

    The closest Pueblo Mágico: Tepotzotlán

    Churrigueresque facade and tower of San Francisco Javier with its atrium cross, Tepotzotlán, Estado de México cool
    Estado de México Tepotzotlán

    Tepotzotlán is the Pueblo Mágico closest to Monumento a la Revolución, with places to stay, food, and more to see.

    Also close to

    Closest to Monumento a la Revolución

    Near Monumento a la Revolución

    Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.

    Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.