Monument Name: | John the Baptist Monument |
Native Name: | Monumento a San Juan Bautista |
Location: | San Juan de los Morros, Guárico, Venezuela |
Type: | statue |
Material: | Concrete |
Height: | 19.8 m (62.3ft) |
Begin: | 1933 |
Complete: | 1935 |
Open: | December 21, 1935 |
Coordinates: | 9.3481°N -70.4639°W |
The John the Baptist Monument is a 19.8-meter (62.3 ft) concrete statue in downtown San Juan de los Morros, Guárico state, Venezuela, erected in honor of John the Baptist.[1] Commonly called San Juanote, it's one of the highest statues in Venezuela. It was built by the command of Venezuelan dictator Juan Vicente Gómez in 1933 as a present to the city when it was declared the capital of Guárico State. The monument was carved in the hills of Calabozo and moved to San Juan in 1935.[2]
San Juan de los Morros and its monument to the Baptist are located in a large geographical area which contact the foothills of the central Venezuelan Coastal Range and lowlands region of the Venezuelan Llanos.[3]
Sanjuanote sits atop the El Calvario hill, a small promontory in the center of the city. The statue is surrounded by concrete lions and old cannons that serve as gatekeepers in a symbolic protective attitude around the monument.