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El Ángel was built to commemorate the centennial of the beginning of Mexico's War of Independence, celebrated in 1910. In later years it was made into a mausoleum for the most important heroes of that war. It is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Mexico City, and it has become a focal point for both celebration or protest. It bears a resemblance to the Victory Column in Berlin. The base of the column is quadrangular with each vertex featuring a bronze sculpture symbolizing Law, War, Justice and Peace. Crowning the column there is the sculpture that gives the name to the monument. The 6.7 meter statue by Enrique Alciati represents the Winged Victory. It is made of bronze, covered with 24K gold (renewed in 2006) and weighs 7 tons. Manuel Gorozpe was one of the supervising engineers of the column.; El Ángel was built to commemorate the centennial of the beginning of Mexico's War of Independence, celebrated in 1910. In later years it was made into a mausoleum for the most important heroes of that war. It is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Mexico City, and it has become a focal point for both celebration or protest. It bears a resemblance to the Victory Column in Berlin. The base of the column is quadrangular with each vertex featuring a bronze sculpture symbolizing Law, War, Justice and Peace. Crowning the column there is the sculpture that gives the name to the monument. The 6.7 meter statue by Enrique Alciati represents the Winged Victory. It is made of bronze, covered with 24K gold (renewed in 2006) and weighs 7 tons. Manuel Gorozpe was one of the supervising engineers of the column. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 6/22/2009)