Monument built in honor of Juan Jose de los Reyes Martinez, nick-named "El Pípila", who heroically burned down the door of the Spanish stronghold Alhondiga de Granaditas on September 28, 1810, during the first battle in the Mexican War of Independence. The Monument offers a unique panoramic vista of Guanajuato, spectacular by day or by night.
Built in 1939, this enormous cantera stone statue depicts famous miner Juán José Martínez "El Pípila" charging forward, with a torch in his right hand. At the base of the monument is the following inscription: "...there are still other Alhóndigas left to burn."
The statue is in a plaza paved with cobblestones and ringed by a balustrade. It offers a tremendous panoramic view of the city, with sights such as the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, Mercado Hidalgo , the University of Guanajuato , Teatro Juárez, the Collegiate Basilica, Jardín Unión, and the elegant domes of the churches of San Diego and La Compañía, to name just a few.
At the back of the monument there is a door to a staircase which takes us to the top. There are embedded columns upon which rests an entablature adorned with metopes and triglyphs. Above, in relief is the coat of arms of Santa Fe de Guanajuato, wrapped in garlands and flanked by fluted pilasters topped with a straight pediment.
One can get here by the panoramic highway, or by walking up one of the narrow streets or alleys that links the monument to the city center: one of these narrow streets starts at Plaza de los Ángeles and another at one side of the Church of San Francisco, very near to the Teatro Juárez.
