Monumento a los Niños Héroes


The Monumento a los Niños Héroes, officially Altar a la Patria, is a monument commemorating the Niños Héroes, installed in Chapultepec, Mexico City, Mexico.

Description and history

The six cadets are honored by an imposing monument made of Carrara marble by architect Enrique Aragón and sculptor Ernesto Tamariz at the entrance to Chapultepec Park. This semicircular monument with six columns, placed at what was the end of the Paseo de la Reforma, a major thoroughfare leading from the central square to Chapultepec park. It contains a niche in each of its columns with an urn holding the remains of one of the cadets. In addition, the remains of Colonel Felipe Santiago Xicoténcatl were placed in the center of the monument below the main statue. The monument is dedicated to the combatants against the United States invasion with the phrase: “To the Defenders of the Fatherland 1846-1847”. The monument's official name is Altar a la Patria, but it is better known as the Monumento a los Niños Héroes and many official texts use the popular name instead of the official name.