The Taj Mahal, India, commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, as a mausoleum for his wife, Arjumand Banu Begum.

A monument is a statue, building, or other edifice created to commemorate a person, event or as an artistic object. They are frequently used to improve the appearance of a city or location. Cities that are planned such as Washington D.C. and Brasília are often built around monuments. The Washington Monument's location (and vertical geometry, though not physical detail) was conceived to help organize public space in the city before it was ever connected with George Washington. Older cities have monuments placed at locations that are already important or are sometimes redesigned to focus on one. As Shelley suggested in his famous poem "Ozymandias" ("Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"), the purpose of monuments is very often to impress or awe. In English the word "monumental" is often used in reference to something of extraordinary size and power. The word comes from the Latin "monere," which means 'to remind' or 'to warn.' Look up monument in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2040x1681, 2396 KB) Description: Taj Mahal Source: Dhirad, picture edited by J. A. Knudsen Uploaded to en: on March 1, 2005, 14:30, by Deep750 who added the following comment On April 9, 2005, 19:22 Nichalp added that heemailed Deep750... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2040x1681, 2396 KB) Description: Taj Mahal Source: Dhirad, picture edited by J. A. Knudsen Uploaded to en: on March 1, 2005, 14:30, by Deep750 who added the following comment On April 9, 2005, 19:22 Nichalp added that heemailed Deep750... Taj Mahal Location of the Taj Mahal within India The Taj Mahal (Devanagari: ताज महल, Nastaliq: تاج محل) is a mausoleum located in Agra, India. ... The Mughal Empire (alternative spelling Mogul, which is the origin of the word Mogul) of India was founded by Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. ... Shahabuddin Mohammed Shah Jahan (also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan. ... St. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Nickname: Location of Brasília Coordinates: , Region State Founded 21 April 1960 Government  - Governor Jose Roberto Arruda Area  - City 5,802 km²  (2,240. ... The Washington Monument at dusk For other Washington Monuments, see Washington Monuments (world). ... George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)[1] led Americas Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and in 1789 was elected the first President of the United States of America. ... Percy Bysshe Shelley (August 4, 1792 – July 8, 1822; pronounced ) was one of the major English Romantic poets and is widely considered to be among the finest lyric poets of the English language. ... OZYMANDIAS I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Functional structures made notable by their age, size or historic significance can also be regarded as monuments. This can happen because of great age and size, as in the case of the Great Wall of China, or because an event of great import occurred there such as the village of Oradour-sur-Glane in France. “Great Wall” redirects here. ... Oradour-sur-Glane was a village in the Limousin région of France that was destroyed on 10 June 1944, when 642 of its inhabitants — including men, women and children — were murdered by a German Waffen-SS company. ...

The Padrão dos Descobrimentos, Lisbon, Portugal, celebrates Portuguese explorers.

Monuments are also often designed to convey historical or political information. They can be used to reinforce the primacy of contemporary political power, such as the column of Trajan or the numerous statues of Lenin in the Soviet Union. They can be used to educate the populace about important events or figures from the past, such as in the renaming of the old General Post Office Building in New York City to the James A. Farley Building (James Farley Post Office), after former Postmaster General James Farley. Picture taken by User:Abelson in July 2003. ... Picture taken by User:Abelson in July 2003. ... Padrão dos Descobrimentos The Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries) is a 52m high slab of concrete, located next to the River Tagus in the Belém district of Lisbon, Portugal. ... For other uses, see Lisbon (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Roman Emperor. ... Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ( Russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин  listen?), original surname Ulyanov (Улья́нов) ( April 22 (April 10 ( O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a... The James A. Farley Post Office, New York Citys General Post Office, is located at 421 Eighth Avenue, between 31st Street and 33rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden. ... House Resolution 368, 97th Congress, 2nd Session, March 2 1982 Robert Caro, The Path to Power James (Jim) Aloysius Farley (May 30, 1888–June 9, 1976) was an American politician who served as head of the Democratic National Committee and Postmaster General. ...

Monuments have been created for thousands of years, and they are often the most durable and famous symbols of ancient civilizations. The Egyptian Pyramids, the Greek Parthenon, and the Moai of Easter Island have become symbols of their civilizations. In more recent times, monumental structures such as the Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower have become iconic emblems of modern nation-states. The term monumentality relates to the symbolic status and physical presence of a monument. For other meanings, see pyramid (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Parthenon (disambiguation). ... Ahu Tongariki, restored in the 1990s Moai are monolithic stone figures on Rapa Nui / Easter Island, Chile. ... “Rapa Nui” redirects here. ... For other monuments to freedom, see Monument of Liberty. ... The Eiffel Tower (French: , ) is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the River Seine in Paris. ...

Until recently, it was customary for archaeologists to study large monuments and pay less attention to the everyday lives of the societies that created them. New ideas about what constitutes the archaeological record have revealed that certain legislative and theoretical approaches to the subject are too focused on earlier definitions of monuments. An example has been the United Kingdom's Scheduled Ancient Monument laws. Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... The archaeological record is a term used in archaeology to denote the physical remains of past human activities which archaeologists seek out and record in an attempt to analyise and reconstruct the past. ... A Scheduled Ancient Monument is defined in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and the National Heritage Act 1983 of the United Kingdom government. ...

Types of monuments

• Buildings designed as iconic landmarks - e.g. the Empire State Building
• Church monuments to commemorate the dead, above or near their grave, often featuring an effigy
• Cenotaphs and memorials to commemorate the dead, usually war casualties - e.g. Vimy Ridge Memorial and India Gate
• Columns, often topped with a statue - e.g. Nelson's Column in London
• Grave stones constitute small monuments to a dead person
• Mausoleums and tombs to inter the dead - e.g. the Great Pyramid and Taj Mahal
• Monoliths erected for religious or commemorative purposes - e.g. Stonehenge
• Obelisks usually erected to commemorate great leaders - e.g. the Washington Monument
• Statues of a famous individual or as a symbol - e.g. Statue of Liberty
• Triumphal arches, almost always to commemorate military successes - e.g. the Arc de Triomphe
• Entire areas can also be used as memorials, usually to commemorate wartime atrocities or notably bloody battles - e.g. Oradour-sur-Glane or the battlefields at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and Borodino.
• On occasion, areas of special natural beauty are also referred to as monuments.

Arch of Constantine, Rome, Italy commemorating a victory by Constantine I in AD 312

For other uses, see Building (disambiguation). ... The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in New York City, New York on the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. ... A church monument is an architectural or sculptural memorial to a dead person or persons, often in the form of an effigy or a wall tablet, located within a Christian church. ... The effigy of John Gower in Southwark Cathedral, London. ... The Cenotaph, London A ceremony at the Cenotaph, London, on Sunday 12th June 2005, remembering Irish war dead Memorial Cenotaph, Hiroshima, Japan A cenotaph is a tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of persons whose remains are elsewhere. ... The memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii commemorates American dead from wars in the Pacific. ... The Canadian National Vimy Memorial Vimy Memorial The mourning mother (Canada) The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is one of Canadas most important overseas war memorials to those who served their country in World War I and risked or gave their lives during the war. ... Built in the memory of more than 90,000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives during the Afghan Wars and World War I, the India Gate is one of the most famous monuments in Delhi. ... For other uses, see Column (disambiguation). ... Lord Nelson at the top of the column that bears his name Nelsons Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square, London, England. ... “Tombstone” redirects here. ... St. ... For the New York prison see The Tombs. ... The Great Pyramid of Giza, (sometimes spelled Gizeh) is the oldest and last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the World and the most famous pyramid in the world. ... Taj Mahal Location of the Taj Mahal within India The Taj Mahal (Devanagari: ताज महल, Nastaliq: تاج محل) is a mausoleum located in Agra, India. ... A monolith is a geological or technological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock. ... For other uses, see Stonehenge (disambiguation). ... The Luxor obelisk in the Place de la Concorde in Paris For other uses, see Obelisk (disambiguation). ... The Washington Monument at dusk For other Washington Monuments, see Washington Monuments (world). ... For other monuments to freedom, see Monument of Liberty. ... A triumphal arch is a structure in the shape of a monumental archway, usually built to celebrate a victory in war. ... This article is about the monument in Paris. ... Oradour-sur-Glane was a village in the Limousin région of France that was destroyed on 10 June 1944, when 642 of its inhabitants — including men, women and children — were murdered by a German Waffen-SS company. ... Gettysburg is a borough 38 miles (68 km) south by southwest of Harrisburg in Adams County, Pennsylvania, USA, of which it is the county seatGR6. ... The Battle of Borodino (September 7, 1812 (August 26 in the Old Style Russian calendar)), also called the Battle of the Moskova, was the largest single-day battle of the Napoleonic Wars and arguably the greatest battle in human history up to that date, involving nearly quarter a million soldiers. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 585 pixelsFull resolution (2001 × 1463 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 585 pixelsFull resolution (2001 × 1463 pixel, file size: 2. ... The Arch of Constantine seen from the Colosseum The arch seen from Via Triumphalis Detail of the arch (southern side, left) The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5... For other uses, see Constantine I (disambiguation). ...

See also

• Seven Wonders of the World
• Monument Valley
• Terminating vista
• Monument tube station and Monument to the Great Fire of London
• Monument Avenue (Richmond, Virginia)
• List of monuments in the United States
• Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (the newest and largest marine protected area in the world)

For other uses, see Wonders of the World (disambiguation). ... Monument Valley from the valley floor. ... In urban planning a terminating vista is a building or monument that stands at the end, or in the middle of a road, so that when one is looking up the street the view ends with the site. ... For the station called Monument on the Tyne and Wear Metro, see Monument Metro station Bank and Monument are interlinked stations, spanning the length of King William Street in the City of London. ... The Monument, London to commemorate the Great Fire of London, designed by Sir Christopher Wren The viewing platform The Monument seen from the ground The Monument to the Fire of London, more commonly known as The Monument, is a 61-metre (202-foot) tall stone Roman doric column in the... Jefferson Davis monument on Monument Avenue, Richmond, Virginia Monument Avenue, in Richmond, Virginia, memorializes Virginian native Confederate participants of the Civil War and one 20th century Richmond native. ... Nickname: Motto: Sic dic Itur Ad Astra (Thus do we reach the stars) Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia Coordinates: , Country State County Independent City Government  - Mayor L. Douglas Wilder (I) Area  - City 62. ... . ... The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (formerly the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument) is the largest Marine Protected Area in the world and was named by the American television show Good Morning America and newspaper USA Today as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World [1...

External link

Website of Monuments and Sculptures in UK