The Rizal Monument, in bronze and granite, is located in the west end of the Rizal Park (once known as Bagumbayan Field) in Manila on the exact spot where Jose Rizal died by firing squad. The monument is guarded by sentries standing at attention 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A stone fountain from Germany, where Rizal studied, is on one side of the monument, while a 31-meter tall flagpole stands beside it. Visiting dignitaries lay wreaths at the monument as part of protocol, while thousands of Filipinos visit the Rizal Park every day, especially on Sundays.
The Rizal monument in Madrid, Spain is located beside a big park on a busy street named Avenida de Pilipinas. The subway station beside it is called Isla de Pilipinas. This monument was erected during the Rizal Centennial of 1996 and was inaugurated on Dec. 5, 2006. Rizal, who spoke fluent Spanish, studied medicine at the Universidad Central de Madrid in Spain, having started his studies in Opthalmology at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. On one side of the monument is written the last poem of Rizal called Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell), which Rizal wrote in Spanish.
The great-great grandfather of Jose Rizal was Chinese trader Cua Yi Lam, baptized Domingo Lamco in the Philippines in 1697. He was once a resident of Zhang-Guo province and a citizen of China. In 2002, to recognize Rizal's Chinese ancestral roots, an exact replica of the monument of Jose Rizal at the Luneta Park was built in the heart of the southern Chinese city of Jinjiang. The monument is made of Jinjiang granite stones and is about six meters taller than the 12-meter monument in Manila. It is built on a park of five hectares, soon also to be the site of a Rizal library and museum.
