The Calzada de los Héroes is the more traditional ride of the City of León, Guanajuato. It extends along nearly 500 meters between the last block of Calle Madero and Avenida Lopez Mateos. Surrounded by trees, along the way you can see eight bronze sculptures on pedestals made from quarry. Its construction was commissioned in 1893 to the engineer Pedro Tejada marking the 83rd anniversary of the Independence of Mexico.

At first the Triumphal Arch of the Calzada de los Héroes was built with wood and covered with plaster.  It was known as the Arco de la Paz or the Arch of Peace, but a few years later, in 1896, the same artist added the pedestal and vases and since then, this neoclassical monument with Doric columns has been known as the Arch of the Calzada de los Heroes.

In 1943 the benefactor and industrial leader in Leon, Francisco Lozornio Castle, added a new artistic element to the arch: a sculpture of a lion. This work was made with cement, rebar, and bricks by the expert hands of Daniel Herrera Jiménez, the master mason in charge of construction of the Expiatorio Church.

Currently, the arch is topped by a bronze lion placed 3 meters placed along the top on March 16, 1958. The cement was taken down from its pedestal and taken to the Leon Zoo. It is said that the idea should be to replace the Leon matador Antonio Velázquez.
The lion of the Arch of the Calzada de los Héroes represents the pride and symbol of the strength of the people from Leon.