Rotunda of Illustrious Persons

Rotunda of Illustrious Persons (Rotonda de las Personas Ilustres) is within Dolores Cemetery (Panteón Civil de Dolores), in the western section of Chapultepec Park at avs. Constituyentes and Civil Dolores (M: Constituyentes, line 7). Mexico's national cemetery, the largest in the country, opened in 1875 and is the final resting place of military leaders and political figures as well as ordinary citizens. It's estimated that some 700,00 people are buried here, and the jumble of gravesites ranges from simple markers to elaborate mausoleums.

A gate within the cemetery leads to the rotunda, a large, sunken, circular open-air plaza. Surrounding the plaza are two concentric circles of graves. Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco—Mexico's three most famous muralists—are in this section, which is reserved for those who made a significant contribution to Mexico's history or culture. Other notables include Nobel Prize-winning author Octavio Paz and actress Dolores del Rio. A map is available at the entrance building. The entire cemetery is elaborately decorated for Day of the Dead festivities in early November, and if you visit at this time you'll see costumed skeletons as well as a profusion of marigolds, the flower of the dead.