Towering above the encircling space is the summary and imposing 75-foot-tall Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument. It's appropriately located within the metropolis of Montebello, dwelling to one of many oldest Armenian communities in Southern California. It was the primary memorial within the U.S. devoted to the genocide constructed on public land, in distinction to earlier, smaller monuments usually situated on church properties, a shift that marked a brand new stage of visibility and recognition.
The memorial's development coincided with a interval of cultural revival amongst Armenian Individuals in the course of the Nineteen Fifties and 60s. Following the fiftieth anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 1965, the place 1000's of Armenians marched by means of the streets of Los Angeles in solidarity and remembrance, the group determined to construct a memorial in California.
Design by H. Hrant Agbabian, it integrates modernism with the standard conical Armenian church structure. Regardless of vocal opposition from the Turkish authorities, the memorial was inaugurated in 1968 with the blessing of each metropolis and state officers, and with 10,000 folks in attendance.
As the oldest and largest monument within the U.S. devoted to the victims of the Armenian Genocide , it was added to the listing of California state historic landmarks in 2025.
