Architectural Rating: Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración

How would you rate the Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration?

  • 1 = Impressive

    Votes: 6 37.5%
  • 2

    Votes: 2 12.5%
  • 3 = Average

    Votes: 4 25.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • 5 = Horrible

    Votes: 3 18.8%

  • Total voters
    16

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,368
3,150
113
The Monumento a los H?roes de la Restauraci?n de la Rep?blica (Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration of the Republic) is located at the heart of Santiago de los Caballeros. The monument was built during the Era of Trujillo by the dictator himself in honor of himself. In fact, the monument was toppled by a statue of Trujillo which is probably the only statue of the dictator still standing on Dominican soil. Today the monument honors the hereos who faught in the War of Restauration which ended in 1865 with the restoration of the DR after about four years of Spanish rule.

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 = impressive and 5 = horrible, how would you rate the Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration?

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-NALs
 

mountainfrog

On Vacation!
Dec 8, 2003
3,146
0
0
www.domrep-info.com
Trujillo, the Builder

.... The monument was built during the Era of Trujillo by the dictator himself in honor of himself.

Questions From a Worker Who Reads

Who built Thebes of the seven gates?
In the books you will find the names of kings.
Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock?
And Babylon, many times demolished
Who raised it up so many times? In what houses
of gold-glittering Lima did the builders live?
Where, the evening that the Wall of China was finished
Did the masons go? Great Rome
Is full of triumphal arches. Who erected them? Over whom
Did the Caesars triumph? Had Byzantium, much praised in song
Only palaces for its inhabitants? Even in fabled Atlantis
The night the ocean engulfed it
The drowning still bawled for their slaves.

The young Alexander conquered India.
Was he alone?
Caesar beat the Gauls.
Did he not have even a cook with him?

Philip of Spain wept when his armada
Went down. Was he the only one to weep?
Frederick the Second won the Seven Year's War. Who
Else won it?

Every page a victory.
Who cooked the feast for the victors?
Every ten years a great man?
Who paid the bill?

So many reports.
So many questions.

Bertolt Brecht





m'frog
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
113
I've always noticed that turn of phrase in the DR that taken literally evokes some comical images:

Balaguer hizo esa carretera

Hip?lito construy? esa escuela

Ese trencito de Leonel...

El s?ndico instal? ese sem?foro


But it works both ways:

Balaguer mat? a su esposo, Hip?lito acab? con el pa?s, etc.
 

A.Hidalgo

Silver
Apr 28, 2006
3,268
98
0
In fact, the monument was toppled by a statue of Trujillo which is probably the only statue of the dictator still standing on Dominican soil.
-NALs

Maestro, info is incorrect. I corresponded with Bernardo Vega (I'm sure you know who he is) a respected expert of the Dominican Republic who is a Senior Associate with the Center for Strategic & International Studies and writer of many books about the DR and relations with the US.

His answer to the question about the statue at the top of the monument is: "It represents "peace" and was done by an Italian in the 1940's. The monument was called Monumento a la Paz de Trujilo. The statue of Trujillo was at ground level. Thus the joke whispered during the dictatorship was the monument meant Arriva la paz y abajo Trujillo".

My original thread on this subject can be found here.
http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/59724-santiago-enygma-3.html


if you like I can supply you with the e-mail:cheeky:
 

A.Hidalgo

Silver
Apr 28, 2006
3,268
98
0
Questions From a Worker Who Reads

Who built Thebes of the seven gates?
In the books you will find the names of kings.
Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock?
And Babylon, many times demolished
Who raised it up so many times? In what houses
of gold-glittering Lima did the builders live?
Where, the evening that the Wall of China was finished
Did the masons go? Great Rome
Is full of triumphal arches. Who erected them? Over whom
Did the Caesars triumph? Had Byzantium, much praised in song
Only palaces for its inhabitants? Even in fabled Atlantis
The night the ocean engulfed it
The drowning still bawled for their slaves.

The young Alexander conquered India.
Was he alone?
Caesar beat the Gauls.
Did he not have even a cook with him?

Philip of Spain wept when his armada
Went down. Was he the only one to weep?
Frederick the Second won the Seven Year's War. Who
Else won it?

Every page a victory.
Who cooked the feast for the victors?
Every ten years a great man?
Who paid the bill?

So many reports.
So many questions.

Bertolt Brecht





m'frog

Oopps...the edifice crumples!!!!:paranoid:
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
113
Thank you Hidalgo for setting that straight.

There are newspaper photos of the people hauling down the Trujillo image from a pedestal on the east side of the Monumento....near where Luper?n is now...

It is currently undergoing some refurbishing.

I, for one, think is it impressive....and certainly a Santiago Landmark....


HB
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,368
3,150
113
Maestro, info is incorrect. I corresponded with Bernardo Vega (I'm sure you know who he is) a respected expert of the Dominican Republic who is a Senior Associate with the Center for Strategic & International Studies and writer of many books about the DR and relations with the US.

His answer to the question about the statue at the top of the monument is: "It represents "peace" and was done by an Italian in the 1940's. The monument was called Monumento a la Paz de Trujilo. The statue of Trujillo was at ground level. Thus the joke whispered during the dictatorship was the monument meant Arriva la paz y abajo Trujillo".

My original thread on this subject can be found here.
http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/59724-santiago-enygma-3.html


if you like I can supply you with the e-mail:cheeky:
Yes, I know who Bernardo is.

Perhaps I should've added the word "arguably".

-NALs
 

london777

Bronze
Dec 22, 2005
786
29
28
Celt 202 has it spot on. It is like the heavy-handed and insensitive classical pastiches erected by European dictators (and American millionaires) during the same decades. Shoddy kitsch.

Having said that it should remain. It is definitely a landmark and defines an era.

When I was there in Spring there seemed to be an effort underway to include a small museum (of what? The Monument itself? Trujillo? The Heroes?) downstairs. Any updates?

I am surprised they do not charge visitors to climb to the top, a popular fundraiser for crumbling English cathedrals.
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
5,808
948
113
I, for one, think is it impressive....and certainly a Santiago Landmark....
I second that opinion!

The monument is quite impressive especially in the evening from a distance when the lights are turned on. From my house I see most of the city and the monument stands out above it.

I use the monument as a reference point when people ask where I live. I tell them I can see the monument from my house. I just don't say it?s 3-4 miles away and across the river.


Don SantiagoDR