Monumento a la Revolución, War memorial in San Benito district, San Salvador, El Salvador
Monumento a la Revolución is a war memorial at the end of Revolution Avenue in the San Benito district of San Salvador, El Salvador. It consists of a tall nude male stone figure and a companion sculpture group, together forming a two-part outdoor monument complex.
Construction began under Colonel Óscar Osorio to commemorate the 1948 uprising that deposed General Salvador Castaneda Castro, and the monument was completed in 1950 under Colonel José María Lemus. It was designed by architects Óscar Reyes and Kurt Schulze. The companion sculpture, Francisco Zúñiga's "Alegoría a la Constitución de 1950", was planned alongside the display of the newly adopted 1950 Constitution.
The nude male figure, known colloquially as El Chulón, represents the "new Salvadoran people" and is assembled from stones from different regions of the country. The companion sculpture, "Alegoría a la Constitución de 1950" by Costa Rican-Mexican artist Francisco Zúñiga, shows a worker, a mother with child, a girl, a soldier with his rifle pointed at the ground, and a woman holding the 1950 Constitution, all supporting a nude woman covered with the Salvadoran flag.
The monument stands on the grounds of the Museo de Arte de El Salvador (MARTE) in the San Benito district, at the end of Revolution Avenue, and is a national monument rather than part of the museum's collection. The Flag Plaza and esplanade are outdoors, so the mural and the Zúñiga sculpture group are seen in open daylight; plan around strong midday sun. The curved wall closes the west side of the plaza, which helps orient you toward the mural.
The planned votive lamp and display of the 1950 Constitution beneath the figure were never realized as intended; what remains is the stone silhouette itself. The mural's stones come from different regions of the country, and the figure is popularly called El Chulón.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,669 contributors worldwide.