Monuments and Memorials

Monuments are objects or buildings that have been created to honor an important person or a
historic event that happened.
People have built monuments for thousands of years. In many cases they are symbols
of ancient civilizations, like the pyramids of ancient Egypt or the GreekParthenon. These
monuments were so large that it took thousands of people to build them. During the past two
hundred years monuments have become famouslandmarks of cities. The Statue of Liberty in New
York welcomed immigrants who came to the New World from Europe. The Eiffel Tower in Paris was
built at theentrance of the 1889 World Fair.
Planned cities have often been built around man-made structures. The Washington Monument was
built before the planning andconstruction of the city started. Brazils new capital Brasilia was built
around monumental structures.
Over history big structures have been built for many other purposes. The Great Wall of China is the
largest man-made object on Earth. It was built to keep invaders out of China. Political monuments
have been built throughout history to show the power of a country or itssociety. Statues of the
Soviet Unions founder, Lenin, are found all over Moscow and other Russian cities. East Germany
built the Berlin Wall to keep its citizens from fleeing to the West.
Columns have been used in history to build temples or hold the weight of ceilings. Some stand
alone and have a statue of a famous person at the top, like Nelsons Column at Trafalgar Square
in London. Many cities have arches, spanned over streets, which show success in wars and
conflicts. Among the most famous is the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Obelisks are four-sided pyramids
that are very narrow and tall.

Memorials are built to honor dead people, often soldiers that have been killed in a war, like the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. One of the most famous memorials is Mount Rushmore, in
South Dakota. It is a sculpture of the faces of famous presidents, carved into a mountain.
One of the most recently built structures is the World Trade Centre Memorial at Ground Zero ,
which commemorates thousands of people who were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The Parthenon - A Symbol of Ancient Greece

Vocabulary

ancient = very old

arch = a structure with a curved top and straight sides

capital = important city where the government of a country is

carve = cut

ceiling = the top part of a room

citizen = a person who lives in a country or city and has rights there

column = tall round stone used to keep up a ceiling

commemorate = in honor of, to respect

construction = building

create = build, make

entrance = door, opening, the way in

flee = escape

founder = a person who started something

honor = admire, respect

immigrant = a person who leaves their country and goes somewhere else to live and work

invade = to move into a country with an army

landmark = something that is easy to recognize, like a building or a mountain

purpose = reason

recently = a short time ago

sculpture = object made by an artist out of wood, stone or other material

society = the public, all the people

throughout = in all of

world fair = a very large show that shows buildings and the culture from different parts of the
world.