Stalin Monument (Prague)

Stalin's Monument was a massive granite statue honoring Joseph Stalin that was unveiled in 1955 after more than 5½ years of work in Prague, Czech Republic. It was the world's largest representation of Stalin, and was destroyed in 1962.

The Monument was located on a huge concrete pedestal, which can still be visited in Letná Park. It was the largest group statue in Europe, measuring 15.5 meters in height and 22 metres in length. The sculptor was Otakar Švec, who, under pressure from the government and secret police while receiving hate mail from Czech citizens, killed himself three weeks before the unveiling.

The process of de-Stalinization began shortly after the unveiling of the monument. The monument, therefore, became an increasing source of embarrassment to the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and was taken down with 800 kg of explosives.
Metronome, a view from the East

In 1990, pirate radio station Radio Stalin operated from a bomb shelter beneath the statue's plinth. The same shelter was also the home of Prague's first rock club in the early 1990s. Since 1991 the marble pedestal has been used as the base of a giant kinetic sculpture of a metronome. In 1996 the pedestal was briefly used as a base for a 35 foot tall statue of Michael Jackson as a promotional stunt for the start of his HIStory European tour. A billboard promoting Civic Democratic Party leader Václav Klaus was erected on the site during the Czech parliamentary elections of 1998 but was removed soon after due to high winds.

A green plaque below the metronome reads:

Metronome
Letenské sady
The Metronome, the work of sculptor Vratislav Karel Novák, was erected in 1991 atop the massive stone plinth that originally served as the base for the monument to Soviet leader Josef Vissarionovich Stalin. Work began on Prague's Stalin monument towards the end of 1949, and in May 1955, it was finally unveiled. The largest group sculpture in Europe during its existence, the monument had a reinforced-concrete structure faced with 235 granite blocks, weighing 17,000 tonnes and costing 140 million crowns to complete. The gigantic composition, by sculptor Otakar Švec and the architects Jiří and Vlasta [his wife] Štursa, did not tower for long over the medieval centre of Prague: in connection with Soviet criticism of Stalin's "cult of personality," the work was dynamited and removed towards the end of 1962.

The City of Prague is considering several options for redevelopment of the site, including a plan to build an aquarium.

Huguenot Monument

The Huguenot Monument in Franschhoek, South Africa, is dedicated to the cultural influences that Huguenots have brought to the Cape Colony (and ultimately the whole of South Africa) after their immigration during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The monument was designed by J.C. Jongens, completed in 1945 and inaugurated by Dr. A.J van der Merwe on April 17th 1948.

The three high arches symbolizes the Holy Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On top of the arches is the sun of righteousness and above that, the cross of their Christian faith.

The central female figure, created by Coert Steynberg, personifies religious freedom with a bible in her one hand and broken chain in the other. She is casting off her cloak of oppression and her position on top of the globe shows her spiritual freedom. The fleur-de-lis on her robe represents a noble spirit and character.

The southern tip of the globe shows the symbols of their religion (the Bible), art and culture (the harp), the agriculture and viticulture (the sheaf of corn and grape vine) and industry (spinning wheel).

The water pond, reflecting the colonnade behind it, expresses the undisturbed tranquility of mind and spiritual peace the Huguenots experienced after much conflict and strife.

The Memorial Museum neighbouring the monument elaborates on the history of the French Huguenots who settled in the Cape, and especially in the Franschhoek valley. On exhibition are the various tools they used to make wine, clothes they wore and the culture and desire for a better life that they brought with them.

Also on the site are wine cellars joined by a colonnade, which bears the words Post Tenebras Lux (lit. "after darkness [comes] light"). It was the motto of the Protestants during the Reformation, and is also inscribed on the Reformation Wall in Geneva, Switzerland.

One Tree Hill, New Zealand

One Tree Hill (or Maungakiekie in Māori) is a 182 metre volcanic peak located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is an important memorial place for both Māori and other New Zealanders. The suburb around the base of the hill is also called One Tree Hill; it is surrounded by the suburbs of Royal Oak to the west, and clockwise, Epsom, Greenlane, Oranga, and Onehunga.

The hill's scoria cones erupted 20,000 - 30,000 years ago, creating lava flows that covered an area of 20 square kilometres, mostly towards Onehunga, making it the largest (in terms of area covered) of the Auckland volcanic field. The summit provides views across the Auckland area, and allows visitors to see both of Auckland's harbours.[1]

Due to the use of the hilltop as a nightly party stop for boy racers and other (often drunk) groups of youths, it was decided in 2008 to close off the road access to the summit at night. While walking up to the hilltop will still be possible at night, it is hoped that this move will reduce vandalism. The police intend to continue monitoring the locality after hours.[2]

Queen Elizabeth Way Monument

The Queen Elizabeth Way Monument, also known as the Lion Monument, is a memorial originally located at the Toronto end of the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW). The monument was designed by architect W.I. Sommerville, sculptor Frances Loring, and Frances Wyle helped model the royal profiles and crown.

It was dedicated in June 1939 during the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the namesake of the highway, in what was the first visit to a British dominion by the reigning sovereign. It consists of a column with a crown at the top and a lion at the base. The monument was moved in 1974 in order to accommodate widening of the original QEW, and is now located in the nearby Sir Casimir Gzowski Park along Lake Ontario, on the east side of the Humber River. It was re-dedicated in 1989 by Queen Elizabeth, by then known as the Queen Mother.

Also along the QEW is the decorative stone pillar on the eastern approach to the Henley Bridge in St. Catharines, Ontario. It was also dedicated by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939. There are two monuments of the bridge (east and west approach) consisting of four regal lions and each bearing a unique shield. A pillar is located on the opposite side of each monument with a sailboat motif on the west pillar.

Shakespeare's funerary monument

The Shakespeare funerary monument is a memorial to William Shakespeare located inside Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, UK, the same church in which Shakespeare was baptised.

The monument, by Gerard Johnson, is mounted on the north wall of the chancel. It features a bust of the poet, who holds a quill pen in one hand and a piece of paper in another. His arms are resting on a cushion. Above him is the Shakespeare family's coat of arms, on either side of which stands two allegorical figures: one, representing Labour, holds a spade, the other, representing Rest, holds a torch and a skull.

It is not known exactly when the monument was erected, but it must have been before 1623; in that year, the First Folio of Shakespeare's works was published, prefaced by a poem by Leonard Digges that mentions "thy Stratford moniment" [sic]. The monument was restored in 1748-9 and has been repainted several times.

Monument of Lihula

Monument of Lihula is the colloquial name of a monument commemorating the Estonians who fought for Estonia against the Soviet Union in World War II, located in Lagedi near Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.

The monument has moved twice before ending up in the current location. It was originally unveiled in Pärnu on 2002, but taken down only nine days after prime minister Siim Kallas had condemned the statue.[1][2] The statue was then located in Lihula in 2004, finally being unveiled in Lagedi on October 15, 2005.

The monument depicts a soldier in a military uniform, with World War II German helmet, Estonian flag on the wrist and the Cross of Liberty on the collar. There are no Nazi symbols on the monument[3][4][5][6]. It consists of a bronze bas-relief and a dedication tablet mounted on a vertical granite slab. The tablet reads: To Estonian men who fought in 1940-1945 against Bolshevism and for the restoration of Estonian independence.

Monument Metro station

Monument is a principal station on the underground section of the Tyne and Wear Metro system and is used by almost 6 million passengers per year[1]. It is named after Grey's Monument, which stands directly above the station. It is the only station on the Tyne and Wear Metro that is situated at a line crossing.

The station opened with services from two of its four platforms on 15 November 1981, when the Metro was extended south from its temporary terminus at Haymarket to Heworth. The remaining two platforms came into use when services between St James and Tynemouth commenced on 14 November 1982.

It is only one of two stations in the world where the same metro line passes through it twice in a pretzel configuration (the other being Commercial–Broadway Station on the Vancouver SkyTrain). Trains on the Yellow line from South Shields travel north through the station towards Jesmond, Four Lane Ends and the Coast, and return westwards via Wallsend and Manors towards St James. (A similar situation also existed briefly on the Toronto Subway.)

The ticket hall opens directly into the lowest level of Monument Mall, and has a more indirect underground connection to Eldon Square shopping centre, as well as exits to Blackett Street and Grey Street.

Grey's Monument

Grey's Monument is a Grade I listed monument to Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey built in 1838 in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was erected to acclaim Earl Grey for the passing of the Great Reform Act of 1832 and stands at the head of Grey Street. It consists of a statue of Lord Grey standing atop a 130 feet (40 m) high column. The column was designed by local architects John and Benjamin Green, and the statue was created by the sculptor Edward Hodges Baily (creator of Nelson's statue in Trafalgar Square).

The monument lends its name to Monument Metro station, a station on the Tyne and Wear Metro located directly underneath, and to the Monument Mall Shopping Centre. The surrounding area is simply known as Monument.

A spiral staircase leads to a viewing platform at the top of the monument, which is occasionally opened to the public.[1] Old photographs indicate that the monument was originally on a traffic island and was surrounded by railings.[2] These railings are no longer present, and the area around the monument is now pedestrianised and is home to many shops, some independentt and some up-scale designer boutiques.

The wide base of the monument is a popular spot for people-watching, and often acts as a venue for buskers (most notably Apu with their andean music), religious speakers and political activists/protesters. During the Lecturer's Strike on 7 March 2006, a congregation of lecturers who were protesting against poor pay and working conditions, spent the day on and around the Monument with placards.

On Tuesday 30 January 2007 the Monument hosted the first major Newcastle Flash mob event when over 500 people gathered around the landmark and struck a pose before starting a conga line.

The Maxïmo Park song By the Monument refers to Grey's Monument.

Monument Avenue

Monument Avenue, in Richmond, Virginia, memorializes Virginian native Confederate participants of the Civil War as well as Arthur Ashe, an international tennis star and Richmond native. "Monument Avenue Historic District" is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On May 29, 1890, crowds were estimated at 100,000 to view the unveiling of the first monument, to Robert E. Lee. [3]

Monument Avenue is the site of several annual events, particularly in the spring, including the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K race [4]. At various times (such as Robert E. Lee's birthday and Confederate History Month) the Sons of Confederate Veterans gather along Monument Avenue in period military costumes. Monument Avenue is also the site of "Easter on Parade," [5] another spring tradition during which many Richmonders stroll the avenue wearing Easter bonnets and other finery or silly outfits.

In 2007, the American Planning Association named Monument Avenue one of the 10 Great Streets in the country.[6] The APA said Monument Avenue was selected for its historic architecture, urban form, quality residential and religious architecture, diversity of land uses, public art and integration of multiple modes of transportation.[7]

Samadhi

Samadhi (Sanskrit: समाधि) in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and yogic schools is a higher level of concentrated meditation, or dhyāna. In the yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali.

It has been described as a non-dualistic state of consciousness in which the consciousness of the experiencing subject becomes one with the experienced object,[1] and in which the mind becomes still, one-pointed or concentrated[2] though the person remains conscious. In Buddhism, it can also refer to an abiding in which mind becomes very still but does not merge with the object of attention, and is thus able to observe and gain insight into the changing flow of experience.[3]

In Hinduism, samādhi can also refer to videha mukti or the complete absorption of the individual consciousness in the self at the time of death - usually referred to as mahasamādhi.

Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II

The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II) or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) or "Il Vittoriano" is a monument to honour Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy, located in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The monument was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1895; sculpture for it was parceled out to established sculptors all over Italy, such as Angelo Zanelli.[1] It was inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1935.[2]

The monument, "chopped with terrible brutality into the immensely complicated fabric of the hill",[3] is built of pure white marble from Botticino, Brescia, and features majestic stairways, tall Corinthian columns, fountains, a huge equestrian sculpture of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of the goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas. The structure is 135 m (443 ft) wide and 70 m (230 ft) high. If the quadrigae and winged victories are included, the height is to 81 m (266 ft).[2] The base of the structure houses the museum of Italian Reunification

Statue

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger.[1] Its primary concern is representational.

The definition of a statue is not always clear-cut; sculptures of a person on a horse, called Equestrian statues, are certainly included, and in many cases, such as a Madonna and Child or a Pietà, a sculpture of two people will also be. A small statue, usually small enough to be picked up, is called a statuette or Figurine.

Many statues are built on commission to commemorate a historical event, or the life of an influential person. Many statues are intended as public art, exhibited outdoors or in public buildings for the edification of passers-by, with a larger magnitude than normal words could ever have for the common man.

On rare occasions, statues themselves become historic and inspire their own historic events. In 1986, when the Statue of Liberty marked her one-hundredth anniversary, a three-day centennial celebration in her honor attracted 12 million. The guest list was unique. "We invited all the great statues of the world to her birthday party and created giant puppets to represent them," said Jeanne Fleming, director of the event. "Each one arrived accompanied by native music."

There is an urban legend concerning a code for mounted statues, whereby the horse's hooves are supposed to indicate how the rider met his end. One hoof off the floor would indicate the rider died of wounds received in battle, or perhaps was just wounded in battle; two hooves off the floor would indicate the rider was killed in battle. An examination of the equestrian statues in most major European cities shows this is not true. If it ever was true, the practice appears to have died out in the 19th century. [1] [2]

Statues are amongst the wonders of the world, with the Colossus of Rhodes and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the Moai of Easter Island among the wonders of the modern world.

Monument to the Great Fire of London

The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known as The Monument, is a 202 ft (61.57 metre) tall stone Roman Doric column in the City of London, England near to the northern end of London Bridge. It is located at the junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, 202 ft (61.57 metres) from where the Great Fire of London started in 1666. Another monument, the Golden Boy of Pye Corner marks the point near Smithfield where the fire stopped. Monument tube station is named after the monument. Constructed between 1671 and 1677, it is the tallest isolated stone column in the world. [1]

The monument consists of a fluted Doric column built of Portland stone topped with a gilded urn of fire, and was designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke. Its 202 foot (61.57 metre) height marks the monument's distance to the site of Thomas Farynor, the king's baker's shop in Pudding Lane, where the fire began.

The top of the monument is reached by climbing up the narrow winding staircase of 311 steps. A cage was added in the mid-19th century at the top of the Monument to prevent people jumping off, after six people had committed suicide between 1788 and 1842.

Three sides of the base of the monument carry inscriptions in Latin. The one on the south side describes actions taken by Charles II following the fire. The one on the east describes how the monument was started and brought to perfection, and under which mayors. The one on the north describes how the fire started, how much damage it caused, and how the fire was extinguished. In 1681 the words "but Popish frenzy, which wrought such horrors, is not yet quenched" were added to the end of the inscription. The inscription on the east generally blames Roman Catholics for the fire, and this prompted Alexander Pope to say, of the area that it is where,

Where London’s column, pointing at the skies,
Like a tall bully, lifts the head and lies." -- Moral Essays. Epistle iii. Line 339 (1733-1734).

The words were chiselled out in 1831.

The west side of the base displays a sculpture, by Caius Gabriel Cibber, in alto and bas relief, of the destruction of the City; with King Charles II, and his brother, James, the Duke of York (later James II) surrounded by Liberty, Architecture, and Science, giving directions for its restoration.

The nearest London Underground station is Monument.

Ancient obelisks

Obelisks were prominent in the architecture of the ancient Egyptians, who placed them in pairs at the entrance of temples. The word "obelisk" as used in English today is of Greek rather than Egyptian origin because Herodotus, the Greek traveller, was one of the first classical writers to describe the objects. Twenty-nine ancient Egyptian obelisks are known to have survived, plus the "Unfinished Obelisk" found partly hewn from its quarry at Aswan. These obelisks are now dispersed around the world, and less than half of them remain in Egypt.

The earliest temple obelisk still in its original position is the 20.7 m / 68 ft high 120 tons [3] red granite Obelisk of Senusret I of the XIIth Dynasty at Al-Matariyyah part of Heliopolis.[4]

The obelisk symbolized the sun god Ra, and during the brief religious reformation of Akhenaten was said to be a petrified ray of the Aten, the sundisk. It was also thought that the god existed within the structure.

It is hypothesized by New York University Egyptologist Patricia Blackwell Gary and Astronomy senior editor Richard Talcott that the shapes of the ancient Egyptian pyramid and obelisk were derived from natural phenomena associated with the sun (the sun-god Ra being the Egyptians' greatest deity).[5] The pyramid and obelisk might have been inspired by previously overlooked astronomical phenomena connected with sunrise and sunset: the zodiacal light and sun pillars respectively.

Bank-Monument station

Bank and Monument are interlinked stations, officially one station known operationally as the "Bank-Monument complex", although the separate names are used on station entrances, platforms and the tube map. The complex spans the length of King William Street in the City of London. Together they form the eighth busiest station on the network, being served by five London Underground lines and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). The two parts of the combined station take their names from the nearby Bank of England and the Monument to the Great Fire of London. The complex is in Travelcard Zone 1. The station connects the Central Line, Northern Line, DLR, Circle Line, District Line and Waterloo & City Line.

Monument Records

Monument Record Corporation was a record label founded in Washington, D।C. in 1958 by Fred Foster and minority partner, Buddy Dean (a prominent Baltimore disc jockey at WTTG). In 1959, Buddy was forced to sell his stock back to the company, and by 1960, Foster (as sole shareholder) had re-located the label to the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, Tennessee. Foster produced a variety of sounds, including Rock and Roll, Country, Jazz and Rhythm and Blues.


In the beginning, Monument was the first of London Records'-distributed labels. MONUMENT RECORDS' first release (October, 1958) was also the label's first hit. Billy Grammer's "Gotta Travel On" became a Top 5 record (and selling over 900,000 copies) for the newly-formed label and spawned a nation-wide dance craze called "The Shag." The signing of former Sun Records singer, Roy Orbison, brought phenomenal success to Foster and his label, beginning with the 1960 release, "Only the Lonely." By 1961, London Records was distributing more than 40 independent companies, prompting Foster to move Monument to the independent-distributor network, thereby solidifying Monument's position as a true independent. In 1971, Foster signed a world-wide distribution agreement with CBS, a move which proved enormously successful for both companies.

In addition to Roy Orbison, MONUMENT was home to a number of other successful recording artists, including: Robert Knight, Kris Kristofferson, Jeannie Seely, Boots Randolph, Dolly Parton, Ray Stevens, Cindy Walker, Tony Joe White, Charlie McCoy, Willie Nelson, Tommy Roe, The Velvets, Connie Smith, Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers and Robert Mitchum.Fred Foster is also known for discovering Leona Douglas, the First African American Female to record as a Country Singer in the early 1960s. Leona had two hits in 1962 ("Too Many Chicks" written by Boudleaux & Felice Bryant and "Jealous Heart" written by Jenny Lou Carson.

In 1965, Orbison left MONUMENT (at his manager's insistence and to pursue television and film appearances) and signed with MGM Records. After Orbison's departure, the label enjoyed a successful run as one of the top independents; developing a strong country roster and a rock roster that included Chris Gantry. Fred Foster also started a soul/R&B label called Sound Stage 7 in 1963, which was essentially a sister label to Monument that focused on soul music. Artists on Sound Stage 7 incuded: Joe Simon, The Dixie Belles, Arthur Alexander, Ivory Joe Hunter and others.

Unfortunately, Foster invested heavily in a banking venture in the 1980s, and sustained disastrous financial losses as a result. It was this, and not a lack of talent or record sales, that led to the forced sale of Monument and its publishing counterpart, Combine Music Group, in 1990. CBS Records acquired the Monument catalog, and its successor company Sony Music reactivated the label in 1987.[1] Today, the catalog of Monument recordings is managed by Sony Music's Legacy Recordings unit.

Also a songwriter, Foster is best-known for his Kristofferson co-write "Me and Bobby McGee," which was an enormous hit, for Kristofferson, as well as for Janis Joplin.

Foster continues to produce, and a recent collaboration with longtime friends Ray Price, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard received a 2008 Grammy for Best Country Collaboration, "Lost Highway," (Price, Nelson). Fred was inducted in to the Musicians Hall of Fame (Producer's Award) on October 12, 2009

Monumental sculpture

The term monumental sculpture is often used in art history and criticism, but not always consistently. It combines two concepts, one of function, and one of size, and may include an element of a third more subjective concept. It is often used for all sculptures that are large. Human figures that are perhaps half life-size or above would usually be considered monumental in this sense by art historians,[1] although in contemporary art a rather larger overall scale is implied. Monumental sculpture is therefore distinguished from small portable figurines, small metal or ivory reliefs, diptychs and the like.

It is also used of sculpture used to create or form part of a monument of some sort, and therefore capitals and reliefs attached to buildings will be included, even if small in size. Typical functions of monuments are as grave markers, tomb monuments or memorials, and expressions of the power of a ruler or community, to which churches and so religious statues are added by convention, although in some contexts monumental sculpture may specifically mean just funerary sculpture for church monuments.

The third concept that may be involved when the term is used is not specific to sculpture, as the other two essentially are. The entry for "Monumental" in "A Dictionary of Art and Artists" by Peter and Linda Murray describes it as:[2]

"The most overworked word in current art history and criticism. It is intended to convey the idea that a particular work of art, or part of such a work, is grand, noble, elevated in idea, simple in conception and execution, without any excess of virtuousity, and having something of the enduring, stable, and timeless nature of great architecture. ... It is not a synonym for 'large'.

However this does not constitute an accurate or adequate description of the use of the term for sculpture, though many uses of the term that essentially mean either large or "used in a memorial" may involve this concept also, in ways that are hard to separate. For example, when Meyer Schapiro, after a chapter analysing the carved capitals at Moissac, says: "in the tympanum of the south portal [(right)] the sculpture of Moissac becomes truly monumental. It is placed above the level of the eye, and is so large as to dominate the entire entrance. It is a gigantic semi-circular relief ...",[3] size is certainly the dominant part of what he means by the word, and Schapiro's further comments suggest that a lack of "excess of virtuousity" does not form part of what he intends to convey. Nonetheless, parts of the Murray's concept ("grand, noble, elevated in idea") are included in his meaning, although "simple in conception and execution" hardly seems to apply.

List of National Parks of the United States

The United States has 58 protected areas known as national parks. All national parks are operated by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. National parks must be established by an act of the United States Congress. The first national park, Yellowstone, was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, followed by Sequoia and Yosemite in 1890. In 1916, the Organic Act created the National Park Service "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."[1] They usually have a variety of natural resources over large areas of land or water to fully protect the resources.[2] Many national parks had been previously protected as National Monuments by the President under the Antiquities Act before being upgraded by Congress. Seven national parks are paired with a National Preserve, six of which are in Alaska. While administered together, they are considered as separate units and their areas are not included in the figures below. The newest national park is Great Sand Dunes, established in 2004.

Twenty-seven states have national parks, as do American Samoa and the United States Virgin Islands. Alaska and California have the largest number of national parks, each with eight, followed by Utah with five and Colorado with four. The largest national park is Wrangell – St. Elias, at over 8,000,000 acres (32,000 km2), followed by three more in Alaska; the smallest is Hot Springs, at less than 6,000 acres (24 km2). The total area protected by national parks is approximately 51,900,000 acres (210,000 km2), for an average of 895,000 acres (3,620 km2) but a median of only 317,000 acres (1,280 km2).[2] The national park with the greatest visitation is Great Smoky Mountains, with over nine million visitors in 2008, followed by the Grand Canyon, with over four million.[3] Fourteen parks are also designated World Heritage Sites.[4]

A few national monuments are no longer designated as such, having been redesignated or disbanded. Other designations of National Park Service areas are sometimes also called national parks; they are listed here.

National Monument (United States)

A National Monument in the United States is a protected area that is similar to a National Park except that the President of the United States can quickly declare an area of the United States to be a National Monument without the approval of Congress. National monuments receive less funding and afford fewer protections to wildlife than national parks. However areas within and extending beyond national parks, monuments, and national forests can be part of wilderness areas, which have an even greater degree of protection than a national park would alone, although wilderness areas managed by the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management often allow hunting.

National monuments can be managed by one of several federal agencies; the National Park Service, US Forest Service, United States Fish and Wildlife Service or by the Bureau of Land Management.

The power to grant national monuments comes from the Antiquities Act of 1906. President Theodore Roosevelt used the act to declare Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first national monument. He thought Congress was moving too slowly and it would be ruined by the time they made it a national park.

English church monuments

A church monument is an architectural or sculptural memorial to a dead person or persons, located within a Christian church. It can take various forms, from a simple wall tablet to a large and elaborate structure which may include an effigy of the deceased person and other figures of familial or symbolic nature. It usually resides immediately above or close to the actual burial vault or grave, although very occasionally the tomb is constructed within it. Sometimes the monument is a cenotaph, commemorating a person buried at another location.

Once only the subject of antiquarian curiosity, church monuments are today recognised as works of funerary art. They are also valued by historians as giving a highly detailed record of antique costume and armour. From the middle of the 15th century, many figurative monuments also represent genuine portraiture