Parque de la Bombilla & Álvaro Obregón Monument

Parque de La Bombilla is a popular public park best known for the giant monument to Álvaro Obregón. To the northwest, across Avenida de la Paz is a smaller triangular park called Parque de San Luis Potosi.

The park was inaugurated in 1935 on the seven-year anniversary of the assassination of Álvaro Obregón. Obregón had been President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. But he was murdered in 1928 while dining at La Bombilla, a fancy restaurant that had been at the spot where the monument is now.

The monument was once famous for having hosted the embalmed arm that Obregón had lost fighting Pancho Villa’s forces during the revolution. Obregón himself is buried in Sonora.

• For more on the events leading up to the assassination of Álvaro Obregón, see the Monumento a la Raza.

The park project was designed by architect Enrique Aragón Echegaray. The monument is in a socialist realist style, with a tower and an access stairway in the middle. Two guardian group sculptures on the sides were designed by the artist, Ignacio Asúnsolo. These represent “Sacrifice” and “Triumph.” A third of an eagle represents the sacrifices of the northern regions of the country. Inside the monument, the hall that once sheltered the embalmed arm now contains a marble copy of the same arm as a tribute to Obregón’s sacrifice.

A very large reflection pool was part of the 2015 rehabilitation of the park. The pool was renewed with fountains, and seven fountains were placed at other locations in the park. The same project installed 24 new trees, 46 new benches, and 143 new lamps. The park is today is a very well-lighted place, perfect for a walk and for the neighborhoods skaters and bikers.

Parque de La Bombilla is next to the Metrobús station, La Bombilla. It’s also just a few blocks from Metro Miguel Angel de Quevedo. Many visitors will stop here on their way to the other points of interest in the Chimalistac neighborhood, or to the Museo de el Carmen.