Editing Monument

{{Short description|Structure built to commemorate a relevant person or event}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Monumento ao Cristo Redentor.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Christ the Redeemer (statue)|Christ the Redeemer]]'' statue in [[Rio de Janeiro]], [[Brazil]], is the most visited monument in [[South America]].]]

A '''monument''' is a type of [[structure]] that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical, political, technical or architectural importance.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the City|last=Caves|first=R. W.|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=978-0415252256|page=470}}</ref>  Examples of monuments include statues, (war) memorials, historical buildings, archaeological sites, and cultural assets. If there is a public interest in its preservation, a monument can for example be listed as a UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]].<ref name="WMF">{{cite web|url=http://www.wmf.org/|title=Preserving Cultural Heritages|website=wmf.org |publisher=World Monument Fund |access-date =2013-10-23}}</ref> The ''[[Palgrave Macmillan|Palgrave]] Encyclopedia of Cultural Heritage and Conflict'' gives the next definition of monument:<blockquote>Monuments result from social practices of construction or conservation of material artifacts through which the ideology of their promoters is manifested. The concept of the modern monument emerged with the development of capital and the nation-state in the fifteenth century when the ruling classes began to build and conserve what were termed monuments. These practices proliferated significantly in the nineteenth century, creating the ideological frameworks for their conservation as a universal humanist duty. The twentieth century has marked a movement toward some monuments being conceived as cultural heritage in the form of remains to be preserved, and concerning commemorative monuments, there has been a shift toward the abstract counter monument. In both cases, their conflictive nature is explicit in the need for their conservation, given that a fundamental component of state action following the construction or declaration of monuments is litigating vandalism and iconoclasm. However, not all monuments represent the interests of nation-states and the ruling classes; their forms are also employed beyond Western borders and by social movements as part of subversive practices which use monuments as a means of expression, where forms previously exclusive to European elites are used by new social groups or for generating anti-monumental artifacts that directly challenge the state and the ruling classes. In conflicts, therefore, it is not so much the monument which is relevant but rather what happens to the communities that participate in its construction or destruction and their instigation of forms of social interaction.<ref>{{Citation |last=Palacios González |first=Daniel |title=Monument |date=2020 |work=The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Cultural Heritage and Conflict |pages=1–13 |editor-last=Saloul |editor-first=Ihab |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61493-5_23-1 |access-date=2024-03-08 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-61493-5_23-1 |isbn=978-3-030-61493-5 |editor2-last=Baillie |editor2-first=Britt}}</ref></blockquote>

== Etymology ==

The word "monument" comes from the Latin "''monumentum''", derived from the word ''moneo'', ''monere'', which means 'to remind' or 'to warn', suggesting a monument allows us to see the past thus helping us visualize what is to come in the future.<ref name="ColeReed1997">{{cite book|author1=John Young Cole|author2=Henry Hope Reed|title=The Library of Congress: The Art and Architecture of the Thomas Jefferson Building|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1P_bTHtdTwkC|year=1997|publisher=Norton|isbn=978-0-393-04563-5|page=16}}</ref> In English the word "monumental" is often used in reference to something of extraordinary size and power, as in [[monumental sculpture]], but also to mean simply anything made to commemorate the dead, as a [[funerary monument]] or other example of [[funerary art]].

== Creation and functions ==
[[File:Monumento a la Bandera 2.jpg|thumb|[[National Flag Memorial (Argentina)|National Flag Memorial]] in [[Rosario]], [[Argentina]]]]
A formalist interpretation of monuments suggests their origins date back to antiquity and even prehistory. Archaeologists like Gordon Childe viewed ancient monuments as symbols of power. Historians such as Lewis Mumford proposed that the practice began with Paleolithic landmarks, which served as sites for communication with ancestral spirits. However, these perspectives often project modern uses of monuments onto ancient structures. In art history, monuments are seen as significant sculptural forms; in architecture and urban planning, they are crucial for city organization and mapping. These contemporary interpretations have been retroactively applied to ancient and non-Western structures. This modern concept of monuments aligns with how past constructions are labeled as monuments today. Françóise Choay highlights the distinction between these views: "The historic monument is a precisely datable invention of the West... exported and diffused beyond Europe from the late nineteenth century."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Choay |first=Françoise |title=The invention of the historic monument |publisher=Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. |year=2001}}</ref> Basically, the definition framework of the term monument depends on the current historical frame conditions. Aspects of the Culture of Remembrance and cultural memory are also linked to it, as well as questions about the concepts of public sphere and durability (of the one memorized) and the form and content of the monument (work-like monument). From an art historical point of view, the dichotomy of content and form opens up the problem of the "linguistic ability" of the monument. It becomes clear that language is an eminent part of a monument and it is often represented in "non-objective" or "architectural monuments", at least with a plaque. In this connection, the debate touches on the social mechanisms that combine with Remembrance. These are acceptance of the monument as an object, the conveyed contents and the impact of these contents.

Monuments are frequently used to improve the appearance of a city or location. Planned cities such as [[Washington, D.C.]], [[New Delhi]] and [[Brasília]] are often built around monuments. For example, the [[Washington Monument]]'s location was conceived by [[Pierre Charles L'Enfant|L'Enfant]] to help organize public space in the city, before it was designed or constructed. Older cities have monuments placed at locations that are already important or are sometimes redesigned to focus on one. As [[Percy Bysshe Shelley|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.

Structures created for other purposes that have been made notable by their age, size or historic significance may 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 importance occurred there such as the village of [[Oradour-sur-Glane]] in [[France]]. Many countries use '[[ancient monument]]' or similar terms for the official designation of protected structures or [[archeological site]]s which may originally have been ordinary domestic houses or other buildings.

Monuments are also often designed to convey historical or political information, and they can thus develop an active socio-political potency.  They can be used to reinforce the primacy of contemporary political power, such as the [[Trajan's column|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]], after [[James Farley]], former [[Postmaster General of the United States]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=VsmZphjPLJQC&dq=false&pg=PA194 David Gardner Chardavoyne (2012), ''United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan: People, Law, and Politics'', Wayne State University Press, p. 194]</ref> To fulfill its informative and educative functions a monument needs to be open to the public, which means that its spatial dimension, as well as its content can be experienced by the public, and be sustainable. The former may be achieved either by situating the monument in public space or by a public discussion about the monument and its meaning, the latter by the materiality of the monument or if its content immediately becomes part of the collective or cultural memory.

The social meanings of monuments are rarely fixed and certain and are frequently 'contested' by different social groups. As an example: whilst the former East German socialist state may have seen the Berlin Wall as a means of 'protection' from the ideological impurity of the west, dissidents and others would often argue that it was symbolic of the inherent repression and paranoia of that state. This contention of meaning is a central theme of modern 'post processual' archaeological discourse.

== Loss and destruction ==
While many ancient monuments still exist today, there are notable incidents of monuments being intentionally or accidentally destroyed and many monuments are likely to have disappeared through the passage of time and natural forces such as erosion. In 772 during the [[Saxon Wars]], [[Charlemagne]] intentionally destroyed an [[Irminsul]] monument<ref name="FrankishAnals1972">{{cite book|author1=Unknown|last2=Scholz|first2=Bernhard Walter|last3=Rogers|first3=Barbara|title=Carolingian chronicles: Royal Frankish annals and Nithard's Histories. Translated by Bernhard Walter Scholz, with Barbara Rogers., .|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sTzl6wFjehMC|accessdate=24 July 2021|year=1972|publisher=University of Michigan Press|location=Ann Arbor|language=en|isbn=0-472-06186-0|pages=48–49|chapter=Chapter 772}}</ref> in order to desecrate the pagan religion. In 1687 the [[Parthenon]] in [[Athens]] was partially destroyed by a [[Republic of Venice |Venetian]] mortar round, which set off the store of gunpowder kept there by the Turkish defenders.<ref name="Mommsen1941">{{cite journal|last1=Mommsen|first1=Theodor E.|title=The Venetians in Athens and the Destruction of the Parthenon in 1687|journal=American Journal of Archaeology|volume=45|issue=4|year=1941|pages=544–556|issn=0002-9114|doi=10.2307/499533|jstor=499533|s2cid=191393528 }}</ref> 

A recent archeological dig in central France uncovered the remains of a [[Megalith|Megalithic]] monument that had been previously destroyed "Like some monuments, including Belz in [[Morbihan]], the menhirs of [[Veyre-Monton]] were knocked down in order to make them disappear from the landscape. Pushed into large pits, sometimes mutilated or covered with earth, these monoliths have been destroyed. 'object of iconoclastic gestures, a sort of condemnation perhaps linked to some change of community or beliefs "<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Rare-prehistoric-stones-and-skeleton-discovered-in-Puy-de-Dome-in-central-France|title = Rare prehistoric stones discovered in central France}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/patrimoine/archeologie/decouverte-exceptionnelle-d-une-trentaine-de-monolithes-prehistoriques-en-auvergne_3591521.html|title = Découverte exceptionnelle d'une trentaine de monolithes préhistoriques en Auvergne|date = 26 August 2019}}</ref>

== Protection and preservation ==
The term is often used to describe any structure that is a significant and legally protected historic work, and many countries have equivalents of what is called in [[United Kingdom]] legislation a [[Scheduled Monument]], which often include relatively recent buildings constructed for residential or industrial purposes, with no thought at the time that they would come to be regarded as "monuments".

Until recently, it was customary for [[archaeologist]]s 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.

Other than municipal or national government that protecting the monuments in their jurisdiction, there are institutions dedicated on the efforts to protect and preserve monuments that considered to possess special natural or cultural significance for the world, such as [[UNESCO]]'s [[World Heritage Site]] programme<ref>{{cite web|title=World Heritage|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/about/|work=unesco.org}}</ref> and [[World Monuments Fund]].<ref name="WMF" />

Cultural monuments are also considered to be the memory of a community and are therefore particularly at risk in the context of modern asymmetrical warfare. The enemy's cultural heritage is to be sustainably damaged or even destroyed. In addition to the national protection of cultural monuments, international organizations (cf. [[UNESCO World Heritage]], [[Blue Shield International]]) therefore try to protect cultural monuments.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=15207&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html|title=UNESCO Legal Instruments: Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict 1999}}</ref><ref>Roger O’Keefe, Camille Péron, Tofig Musayev, Gianluca Ferrari "Protection of Cultural Property. Military Manual." UNESCO, 2016, S. 73ff.</ref><ref>''UNESCO Director-General calls for stronger cooperation for heritage protection at the Blue Shield International General Assembly.'' UNESCO, 13 September 2017.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theblueshield.org/what-we-do/blue-shield-international/blue-shield-missions/|title=Blue Shield Missions|website=Blue Shield International|access-date=2020-03-23|archive-date=2020-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408124101/https://theblueshield.org/what-we-do/blue-shield-international/blue-shield-missions/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Recently, more and more monuments are being preserved digitally (in 3D models) through organisations as [[CyArk]].<ref>[http://www.slashgear.com/cyark-to-digitally-scan-500-world-monuments-in-5-years-22302676/ CyArk preserving monuments digitally]. slashgear.com. October 22, 2013</ref>

== Types ==
[[File:Braniborská brána.jpg|thumb|[[Brandenburg Gate]] in [[Berlin]], nationalist symbol of [[Germany]] and its [[German reunification|unity]]]]
* [[Benchmark (surveying)|Benchmarks]] placed by a government agency or private survey firm.
* [[Building]]s designed as [[landmark]]s, usually built with an extraordinary feature, such being designed as the tallest, largest, or most distinctive design, e.g., the [[Burj Khalifa]] in Dubai, the world's tallest structure or the [[One World Trade Center]], the [[tallest building in the United States]], built to memorialize the attack on September 11.
* [[Cenotaph]]s (intended to honour the dead who are buried elsewhere) and other [[memorial]]s to commemorate the dead, usually war casualties, e.g., [[India Gate]] and [[Vimy Memorial|Vimy Ridge Memorial]], or disaster casualties, such as the [[Titanic Memorial, Belfast|''Titanic'' Memorial, Belfast]].
* [[Church monument]]s to commemorate the faithful dead, located above or near their grave, often featuring an [[effigy]], e.g., [[St. Peter's Basilica]] or the medieval church [[Santa Maria di Collemaggio|Sta Maria di Collemaggio]] in L'Aquila.
* [[Column]]s, often topped with a statue, e.g., [[Berlin Victory Column]], [[Nelson's Column]] in London, and [[Trajan's Column]] in Rome.
* [[Eternal flame]]s that are kept burning continuously, usually lit to honor unknown soldiers, e.g., at the [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Moscow)|Tomb of Unknown Soldier]] in Moscow or at the [[John F. Kennedy gravesite]] in Virginia's [[Arlington National Cemetery]].[[File:Washington Monument Dusk Jan 2006.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The [[Washington Monument]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], which honors the first [[US President|president]] of the United States, [[George Washington]], is the world's tallest [[obelisk]].]]
[[File:P1090119 Chiny.JPG|thumb|The [[Great Wall of China]], a massive fortification structure that became the monument of [[Ancient China|Chinese civilization]]]]
* [[Fountain]]s, water-pouring structures usually placed in formal [[garden]]s or [[town square]]s, e.g., [[Fontaines de la Concorde]] and [[Gardens of Versailles]].
* [[Headstone|Gravestone]]s, small monuments to the deceased, placed at their gravesites, e.g., the tombs and vaults of veterans in [[Les Invalides]] and [[Srebrenica Genocide Memorial]].
* [[Mausoleum]]s and [[tomb]]s to honor the dead, e.g., the [[Great Pyramid of Giza]], [[Libyco-Punic Mausoleum of Dougga]] and [[Taj Mahal]].
* [[Monolith]]s erected for religious or commemorative purposes, e.g., [[Stonehenge]].
*  [[Mosques|Mosque Monuments]], places of worship that generally have [[domes]] and [[minarets]] that stand out against the skyline. They also usually feature highly skilled [[Islamic calligraphy]] and geometric artwork, e.g., the [[Mosque of the Prophet]].
* [[Mound]]s erected to commemorate great leaders or events, e.g., [[Kościuszko Mound]].
* [[Obelisk]]s, usually erected to commemorate great leaders, e.g., [[Cleopatra's Needle (London)|Cleopatra's Needle]] in London, the [[National Monument (Indonesia)|National Monument ("Monas")]] in Central Jakarta, and the [[Washington Monument]] in Washington, D.C.
* [[Palace]]s, imposing royal residences designed to impress people with their grandeur and greatness, e.g., [[Forbidden City]] in Beijing, [[Palace of Versailles]], and [[Schwerin Palace]] in Schwerin.
* [[Searchlight]]s to project a powerful beam of light, e.g., ''[[Tribute in Light]]'' in the [[National September 11 Memorial & Museum]] in New York City, commemorating the [[September 11 attacks]] of 2001.
* [[Statue]]s of famous individuals or symbols, e.g., the [[Niederwalddenkmal]] (''Germania'') in Hesse, ''Liberty Enlightening the World'' (commonly known as the [[Statue of Liberty]]) in New York City, and ''[[The Motherland Calls]]'' in Volgograd.
* [[Temple]]s or religious structures built for pilgrimage, ritual or commemorative purposes, e.g., [[Borobudur]] in Magelang and [[Kaaba]] in Mecca.
* [[Terminating Vista]]s, layout design for urban monuments on the end of an avenue, e.g., [[Opera Garnier]] in Paris.
* [[Triumphal arch]]es, almost always to commemorate military successes, e.g., the [[Arch of Constantine]] in Rome and [[Arc de Triomphe]] de l'Étoile in Paris.
* [[War memorials]], e.g., the [[Marine Corps War Memorial|Iwo Jima Memorial]] in Arlington, VA,  the [[Laboe Naval Memorial]], the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial in [[St Avold]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/lorraine-american-cemetery#.VgTzaJWhfrc|website=abmc.gov|title=Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial|date=January 1960 }}</ref> and the [[Soviet War Memorial (Treptower Park)|Soviet War Memorial]] in Berlin.

=== Examples of notable monuments ===
<gallery mode="packed" style="font-size: 0.8em;">
File:Memorial a Victoria, Londres, Inglaterra, 2014-08-07, DD 008.JPG|[[Victoria Memorial, London|Victoria monument]] in [[London]], a memorial to [[Queen Victoria]] of the [[British Empire]]
File:Columna de la Independencia de Mêxico.JPG|[[El Ángel]] national monument built to commemorate the independence of [[Mexico]]
File:Statue of liberty 01.jpg|The [[Statue of Liberty]] (''Liberty Enlightening the World''), the symbol of the [[United States]]' freedom
File:Alger Memorial-du-Martyr IMG 1172.JPG|The [[Martyrs' Memorial, Algiers|Maqam Echahid]], in [[Algiers]], iconic concrete monument commemorating the [[Algerian War|Algerian war for independence]]
File:Eiffel Tower Day Sept. 2005 (10).jpg|The [[Eiffel Tower]], in [[Paris]], a monument commemorating the [[French Revolution]] for its centenary
File:Azadi Tower on a clean day.jpg|[[Azadi tower]] in [[Tehran]], commemorates the 2,500 years of the [[Persian Empire]] and the history of [[Iran]]
File:Mauzoleumlenina (cropped).jpeg|[[Lenin mausoleum]] in [[Moscow]], an enduring symbol of Soviet Union [[Communism]] and [[Cold War]]
File:62930-Beijing-Tiananmen-Square (28609067112).jpg|[[Chairman Mao Memorial Hall]] is located on the [[Tiananmen Square]], where the [[Gate of China, Beijing|Beijing Gate of China]] used to stand.
File:DJI 0236 Kopiec Kościuszki.jpg|[[Kościuszko Mound]], [[Poland]] commemorates [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]]
File: Alexander Graham Bell Brantford Monument 0.98.jpg|The [[Bell Telephone Memorial]], commemorates the invention of the telephone, [[Brantford, Ontario]]
File:Hiroshima Peace Park (46377585071).jpg|The Hiroshima [[Hiroshima Peace Memorial|Cenotaph and Atomic Bomb Dome]] to remember the victims of [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|August 6, 1945 atomic bombing]]
File:Lincoln Memorial east side.JPG|The [[Lincoln Memorial]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] honors American President [[Abraham Lincoln]].
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Antiquities Act]]
* [[English Heritage Archive]], holds data on England's monuments
* [[Memorial]]
* [[Monumental sculpture]]
* [[National memorial (United States)|National memorial]]
* [[National monument]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|author=Chaney, Edward  | title='Egypt in England and America: The Cultural Memorials of Religion, Royalty and Revolution', Sites of Exchange: European Crossroads and Faultines, ed. M. Ascari and A. Corrado, Amsterdam & New York, Rodopi, 2006, 39–6}}
* {{cite book|author=Choay, Françoise |title=The invention of the historic monument|publisher= Cambridge University Press|date= 2001}}
* {{cite book|author=Gangopadhyay, Subinoy |title=Testimony of Stone : Monuments of India|publisher= Dasgupta & Co.|date= 2002}}
* {{cite book|author1=Phillips, Cynthia |author1-link=Cynthia B. Phillips |author2=Priwer, Shana |title=Ancient Monuments|publisher= M E Sharpe Reference|date= 2008}}
* {{cite book|author=Stierlin, Henri |title=Great monuments of the ancient world|publisher= Thames & Hudson|date= 2005}}
* [[Judith Dupre]]. ''Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory'' (2007). Random House. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6582-0}}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote|Monuments}}
{{commons category|Monuments and memorials}}
{{Wiktionary|monument}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070217001941/http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/index.htm Website of Monuments and Sculptures in UK]
* [http://www.kamat.com/indica/monuments/index.htm Monuments of India at kamat.com]
* [http://www.worldmonumentphotos.com Pictures and Articles of Monuments from around the world]
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/ Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Monuments and memorials| ]]