Mazatlan, known throughout Mexico as the Pearl of the Pacific, is a major port city on the country's west coast, roughly 225 miles due east of the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. The city is the second largest in the Mexican state of Sinaloa and is home to nearly 440,000 residents. Mazatlan is also a major tourist destination, and scattered throughout the city are several impressive monuments, most of which celebrate Mazatlan's cultural heritage or events in its colorful history.
 

Monumento al Pescador


The Monumento al Pescador, or Fisherman's Monument, celebrates Mazatlan's rich heritage as a fishing center. This landmark on the Malecon, Mazatlan's waterfront promenade, features the figures of a solitary man and a woman, in between which is a tall structure representing the city's famed lighthouse, El Faro. Sculpted by Rodolfo Becerra Gomez, the monument also features a ribbon-like element, which represents the Tropic of Cancer to mark Mazatlan's physical location. The man in the monument represents the strength and determination of Mazatlan's fishermen, while the woman calls to mind not only the women of the city but also the beauty of Mazatlan.
 

La Continuidad de Vida


By far Mazatlan's largest monument, La Continuidad de la Vida, or the Continuity of Life, is also a major landmark on the Malecon. It features a naked couple standing atop a giant snail's shell and overlooking a pod of leaping dolphins. The sculpture represents the ideal of continuum of life in harmony with nature. The male figure extends his arm as if to offer his female companion a future in which they will prosper and work to protect all of nature's living things. The snail shell on which the man and woman stand is significant because of its relationship to the snail, a traditional symbol for the eternity of life in the universe. Always impressive, the monument should be seen both during the day and at night, when it is beautifully lit.
 

Pacifico Brewery Monument


Unveiled in 2000, this monument celebrates the 100th anniversary of Mazatlan's Pacifico Brewery, which opened on March 14, 1900. The centerpiece of the monument, which is also located near the Malecon, is a huge copper vat capable of holding more than 6,300 gallons of beer. German immigrants Germán Evers, Emilio Philippi and Jorge Claussen founded Pacifico, which was sold in 1954 to the Modelo Group, one of Mexico's largest beer producing corporations. Brewery workers helped to design this Mazatlan landmark.
 

Lopez Saenz Monument


On New Year's Eve 1999, shortly before the arrival of the new millennium, Mazatlan unveiled this starkly contemporary monument from its native son, artist Antonio López Sáenz. The monument depicts a stylized Sinaloan family contemplating the future. López Sáenz's monument, which was cast in bronze in a Mexico City foundry, sits on the Malecon.