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In honour of both Canada Day and Independence Day, we here at SkyriseCities have compiled a list of the top five stone, concrete, or cement monuments and statues dedicated to patriotism found around the globe. While every nation has its own distinct culture, history, and worldview, this expression of national pride remains a common theme.
By far the largest symbol of American patriotism created in stone, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota features the larger-than-life faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Carved into the Lakota Black Hills, it remains one of the most popular tourist destinations in America. Begun in 1925, with continuous progress from 1927 to 1941, Mount Rushmore was the vision of master sculptor Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941) and his son, the patriotically named Lincoln Borglum (1912-1986), whose combined efforts saw Mount Rushmore throughout its 16-year construction. Controversial among local Native American groups for what many among them view as the desecration of the sacred Black Hills — Mount Rushmore was previously known to the Lakota Sioux as 'The Six Grandfathers' — the site today remains a massive, permanent reminder of American conquest, a symbol of Manifest Destiny writ large into the sacred lands of a conquered people. Nevertheless, the site is undoubtedly an impressive feat of engineering, at 60 feet high with each of the heads the height of a six-storey building, the eyes 11 feet across, noses 20 feet long, and mouths stretching up to 18 feet wide.
Not ones to boast, at least not while at home, the largest Canadian patriotic monument carved in stone is found in France, at the historic battlefield site of the 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge. Dedicated to that battle's fallen soldiers, the Canadian National Vimy Ridge Memorial remains the largest such monument of any type ever created by Canada. Begun in the 1920s by Walter Seymour Allward, the memorial features two large pylons standing 90 feet high, built of 6,000 tonnes of special limestone and resting upon a 15,000-tonne concrete bed. The memorial's dedication and opening was conducted in 1936 by King Edward VIII. Beyond the imposing twin pylons, the memorial features a collection of symbolic statuary, including the Statue of Peace, Statue of Justice, along with both a Male Mourner and Female Mourner, all of which are shown in various states of sorrow. Of all the statues present on the site, that of Canada Bereft, featuring a shrouded weeping mother figure, remains that with which most visitors to the memorial identify the strongest.
Declared the tallest statue in the world upon its completion in 1967, The Mamayev Monument, or 'The Motherland Calls,' monument located in Volgograd, Russia, was constructed by sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich and structural engineer Nikolai Nikitin to commemorate the Soviet Union's victory at the Battle of Stalingrad during the height of the Second World War. Still known as the tallest statue of a woman around the world, the impressive concrete-skinned statue stands nearly 300 feet high, and is comprised of approximately 8,000 tonnes of material. Interred at its base, the bodies of Marshal of the Soviet Union, Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, as well as famous Soviet sniper, Vasily Zaysev, who killed 225 Axis soldiers during the battle, are marked, their efforts during the Siege of Stalingrad memorialized for all time.
Completed in 2009, and by far the most recent entrant on our list, the Youth Mao Zedong Statue located in Orange Isle, Chagsha, Hunan, China, counts among the largest patriotic stone monuments in the world. Begun in 2007 by the Hunan People's Government, the massive granite depiction of a young Mao Zedong dominates the local landscape, standing at an impressive 105 feet, and composed of more than 8,000 pieces of granite. Dedicated to Chairman Mao, founding father of the People's Republic of China, the youthful visage featured on the monument harkens back to the early days of the visionary leader prior to his rise to fame during the Chinese Revolution. A controversial figure at best, Chairman Mao remains a symbol of oppression to many. His heavy-handed Communist regime, which lasted from 1949-1976 and included the largely destructive Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, was synonymous with an era of fear and upheaval. Nonetheless, the impressive statue stands today as a testament to the staying power of iconic leaders as symbols of a nation, no matter the historic baggage they may carry.
Last but not least, the National Wallace Monument, a 220-foot Gothic-Revival sandstone tower which stands atop Abbey Craig in Stirling, Scotland, remains the nation's largest such memorial stone structure. Built by architect John Thomas Rochead in 1867 to commemorate Scottish patriot William Wallace's 1297 victory over the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, the imposing stone tower commands an impressive presence amidst the surrounding Scottish countryside. Placed at the site from which it is said that Wallace observed the movements of the advancing English forces, the monument places visitors within the historical context from which it came. A popular historic attraction, the Wallace Monument houses a collection of artifacts believed to have belonged to Wallace himself, including the legendary Wallace Sword, a massive, 5'4" long sword weighing nearly seven pounds. In addition to the Wallace collection, the monument is also home to the Hall of Heroes, a series of busts depicting famous Scots through history.
Whether in the form of great leaders blasted into a mountainside, or the more subtle evocative presence of an abstract set of pylons rising above hallowed ground, the variety of permanent, stone dedications to patriotic, national pride succeed based not so much on what they depict in raw form, but instead on what they can show us about ourselves and our common cultural values.
