Angel of Independence

Set in the middle of busy traffic circles; a golden, winged woman perched atop a massive marble pedestal. Newlyweds come to her for post-nuptial portraits. Soccer teams and politicians celebrate victories under her placid gaze. Hardly a tourist visits her without snapping a shot.

But few tourists ever see what she shelters inside her massive concrete base. Here, behind glass windows in a dim, marble-floored crypt, lie the cracked skulls and boxed remains of some of Mexico's greatest revolutionary heroes: Officers who led the charge in Mexico's battle for independence nearly two centuries ago, the founding fathers who signed the country's Declaration of Independence, men whose names are now synonymous with Mexican states such as Quintana Roo, Hidalgo and Tamaulipas.

The tomb was accessible only to Mexican dignitaries but it was later opened for the public.