La Raza station
Metrobús · 1 3 Line 1 and Line 3
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The story behind the icon
The station icon represents the Monument to the Race. The station takes its name from the nearby Monumento a la Raza on Avenida de los Insurgentes Norte, and is also a transfer station with Corridor 1 Insurgentes of the Metrobús System and with Lines 3 and 5 of the STC Metro.
On Avenida de los Insurgentes Norte, at the corner of Calzada Vallejo, there is a monument dedicated to the Aztec race. The architectural project is by the engineer Francisco Borbolla; its execution, as well as the two sculptural groups, is the work of the architect and sculptor Luis Lelo de Larrea in 1940.
The Monument to the Race is an ensemble of a pyramid and a series of statues; the pyramid form is pre-Columbian in type and 50 metres high, and on its upper platform stands a pedestal.
On its four sides it bears bronze plaques with reliefs that form part of the base intended for the sculpture of a metal eagle in the act of devouring a serpent upon a prickly pear. The slopes of the three platforms are ornamented with horizontal friezes bearing reliefs inspired by the feathered serpents of Xochicalco. The four faces of the pyramid have smooth sloping surfaces on the central axis, between two balustrades.
In this upper part of the monument, on each of its fronts, there is a bronze relief with inscriptions: Itzcóatl, king of Mexico; Nezahualcóyotl, king of Texcoco; Totoquihuatzin, king of Tlacopan; and the figure of Cuauhtémoc. It has two stairways: the southern one leads to the upper platform and the northern one to the entrance door of the building; both stairways bear at their foot great serpent heads recalling those of Teotihuacan.
From the lower body of the platform rise two monumental sculptural groups: the one to the east represents the "Group of the Founding of Mexico" and the one to the west the "Group of the Defence of Tenochtitlan".