Monumento a Los Héroes, National monument at Autopista Norte intersection, Bogotá, Colombia
Monumento a Los Héroes was a rectangular tower clad in pale yellow stone, about six stories tall, with a stepped base and a short central stair. Its broad facade carried three vertical panels headed PICHINCHA, JVNIN and AYACVCHO, listing the battalions and naval vessels of the independence campaigns. A bronze equestrian statue of Simón Bolívar by Emmanuel Frémiet, cast in 1910, stood on a square plinth at the left, and thin rods rose above the roofline.
The monument was inaugurated in 1963 by then-President Guillermo León Valencia to honor soldiers who died during South America's independence wars. After more than fifty years, it was dismantled in 2021 to make way for Bogotá's metro construction.
The three inscription panels on the facade, headed PICHINCHA, JVNIN and AYACVCHO, list the battalions and naval vessels that fought in the independence battles of the Bolivarian countries. The northern face carried a passage from Bolívar's political testament, signed in Santa Marta on 10 December 1830, carved in capitals in the old Latin alphabet.
The monument was directly accessible through a pedestrian walkway from the Héroes TransMilenio station, making it convenient to reach by public transport. Since the building stood at a major intersection, the site remains easy to locate from the traffic signals today.
The equestrian statue on the monument was made by French sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet and dates from 1910, when it was first installed in the Parque de la Independencia for the independence centenary. It was moved to the monument's north face when the Avenida Eldorado was built. After the 2021 demolition it was taken down, with plans to reinstall it in the Parque de la Independencia.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,761 contributors worldwide.