Get Some Exercise While Learning about History
The city of Navojoa, Sonora has a number of busts and statues along its city boulevards and street that represent key figures and symbols in Mexican history. And they also represent a chance to do some urban hiking while learning about the history of the Republic of Mexico.
Depictions of heroes of the Mexican Independence and Mexican Revolution, along with presidents and other important people in the history of the republic are on display in the thoroughfares that extend outward in eight directions from the cities rounded-square-shaped Plaza Cinco de Mayo, most of them on the boulevards of Calle No Reeleccion.
Whether intentional or not, these impressive monuments offer a mobile history lesson, where you can learn while getting exercise and becoming more familiar with the city.
Located on intersections with the plaza are: a monument that is a replica of the famous Angel of Independence in Mexico City (a monument to honor the heroes of the Mexican Independence); a statue of Mexican President Benito Juarez; an angel guarded by two lions; and a statue of Miguel Hidalgo, the priest who famously shouted “Viva Mexico!” as a call to Mexican independence.
If you walk west for six blocks on Avenida Obregon, you will find the impressive monument to Don Alvaro Obregon, erected by his friends and admirers in 1930, two years after his assassination.
Walking north from the plaza along Calle No Reeleccion, you will see busts and information about Mariano Matamoros, Francisco Javier Mina, Antonio Rosales, Melchor Ocampo, Hermenegildo Galeana and Francisco I. Madero.
Take the southbound boulevard (Calle No Reeleccion Sur), after passing the monument to Miguel Hidalgo you will find monuments to Vicente Guerrero, Ignacio Lopez Rayon, Andres Quintana Roo, Nicolas Bravo, Mariano Abasolo, Mariano Jimenez, Doña Josefa Ortíz de Domínguez and Leona Vicario.
And if you have walked that far, stop to rest at Plaza Santa Fe and make a visit to the Regional Museum of the Mayo.
There is an Une bus that travels in both directions on Calle No Reeleccion, so if you get tired you can take the bus to the next monument.
Be sure to take rest breaks and drink plenty of water. Be careful when crossing the street and entering traffic. And bring your Spanish translation app, because the information on the monument plaques is in Spanish. Even if you do not have a translation tool though, you can get the gist of the biographical information.
And enjoy your monumental Mexican history learning experience!
