Plaza de la República en Guadalajara, Jalisco

The Plaza de la República is an emblematic urban space in Guadalajara, located on Avenida México very near its intersection with Chapultepec. The Plaza de la República was designed by the architect Julio de la Peña Lomelín and inaugurated in 1967, commissioned by the then-governor of Jalisco, Francisco Medina Ascencio, to commemorate the centennial of the Restoration of the Republic in Mexico (which occurred in 1867 after the fall of the Second Empire of Maximilian of Habsburg). The plaza, built along the median, features 32 yellow quarry stone stelae (16 on each side) bearing the coats of arms of the country's states. The central sculpture, which visually crowns the space, is a 6-meter-tall female figure personifying the Republic. It is the work of the renowned Jalisco sculptor Juan José Méndez (the same creator of the sculptures at the Glorieta de los Niños Héroes). Behind her stands an obelisk that serves as a backdrop.