Unveiled May 2, 1840 Opened 2 May 1840 Phone +34 912 76 71 87 | Location near Madrid Province Community of Madrid Architect Isidro González Velázquez | |
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Designed by Isidro González Velázquez Address Plaza de la Lealtad, s/n, 28014 Madrid, Spain Hours Open today · Open 24 hoursSaturdayOpen 24 hoursSunday(Father's Day)Open 24 hoursHours might differMondayOpen 24 hoursTuesdayOpen 24 hoursWednesdayOpen 24 hoursThursdayOpen 24 hoursFridayOpen 24 hours Similar San Jerónimo el Real, Apollo Fountain, Fountain of Neptune - Madrid, Velazquez Statue, Madrid Stock Exchang | ||
The Monumento a los Caídos por España (English: Monument to the Fallen for Spain), popularly known as the 'Obelisco' ("Obelisk") or the 'Monumento a los Héroes del Dos de Mayo' ("Monument to the Heroes of the Second of May"), is a monument in Madrid, Spain located in the Plaza de la Lealtad, between the Madrid Stock Exchange Building and the Ritz Hotel, next to the Paseo del Prado.
The monument is built on the place where General Joachim Murat ordered the execution of numerous Spaniards after the Dos de Mayo Uprising of 1808. After various attempts to create a memorial as an homage to the participants of the uprising, the inauguration of the monument took place on May 2, 1840, the anniversary of the event. On November 22, 1985, King Juan Carlos I re-inaugurated the monument as a memorial to all those who gave their life for Spain, including those that died in conflicts other than the Peninsular War. Since then, a flame fuelled by gas has been constantly burning on the front of the monument. This parallels other war memorials around the world of national symbolic importance, frequently known as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.