The major intersections of the broad avenue were traffic roundabouts ("glorietas") where statues commemorating persons and events in Mexican history were placed over the next decades. The first monument on the Paseo was the Monument to Christopher Columbus, which had been commissioned in 1873 by wealthy Mexican railway magnate Antonio Escandón and executed by French sculptor Charles Cordier in France. It was erected in 1877, shortly after Díaz seized power. For liberals it was objectionable for its religious iconography and a second statue to Columbus was placed elsewhere in the capital in 1892. The Monument to Cuauhtémoc was a planned installation. The monument to Independence was inaugurated in 1910, during the celebrations of the centennial of the Hidalgo revolt.