Plaza de la Constitución

The Plaza de la Constitución, also known as El Zócalo, is the city's and the country's main square. The name Zócalo originated in 1843, when Antonio López de Santa Anna held a competition to see who would build a monument to commemorate Mexico's independence, with the winner being Lorenzo de la Hidalga. Unfortunately, financial problems impeded the completion of the project, and only the base of the monument, "zócalo" in Spanish, was built, standing in the square for many years. The icon represents the silhouette of the Mexican national coat of arms.