Devils Tower National Monument United States

Devils Tower National Monument at Wyoming, United States

Spanning over an area of 1,347 acres, the Devils Tower is a monolith – an igneous intrusion of phonolite in Crook County, Wyoming in the Unites States. The Devils Tower is a United States National Monument located in the Black Hills above River Belle Fourche. Towering over the surrounding region at a height of 5,114 feet (above sea level), the monolith is a favorite with visitors who love the adventure of a good climb. More and more visitors these days are gravitating towards traditional climbing techniques due to the hundreds of natural cracks on its surface. The Devils Tower attracts over 400,000 visitors each year.

The Devils Tower stands out of the surrounding prairie like a God towering among mortals. This is perhaps the reason the tower is revered as a sacred spot by the Lakota and other native tribes of the region. The eight mile trekking trail is lined with dozens of varieties of wildflowers during spring. A ranger-led tour takes about an hour and half and is an educative experience opening up to the geography, culture, and biolife of the region.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial in USA

Mount Rushmore National Memorial at South Dakota,USA

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial on Mount Rushmore is located near Keystone in South Dakota, USA. It is one of the most iconic monuments representing the United States internationally. Set against the impressive granite background of the Black Hills the huge sculptures of America’s four iconic United States presidents – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln – stand out in a rare display of historic grandeur.
These 60-foot high carvings, 500-feet feet up the hills, were sculpted by the well-known Danish-American Gutzon Borglum and later by his son, Lincoln Borglum. The Mount Rushmore Memorial covers 1,278 acres and is about 5,725 feet above sea level.

The idea of creating the sculpture was the brainchild of Doane Robinson, a well-known South Dakota historian. Robinson believed that a mammoth carving on the Black Hills in South Dakota would attract much tourist interest in the state. He worked with John Boland, President Calvin Coolidge, Congressman William Williamson, and other leaders to secure funding. Needles was the site initially suggested to house these mammoth monuments. Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor, however believed that Mount Rushmore was a better choice due to its excellent quality granite. Robinson had initially envisaged it to feature local western heroes such as Lewis and Clark, and Buffalo Bill Cody but once again Borglum stepped in and suggested that the sculpture be given a Pan-American focus.

Construction work started in 1927, and the sculpture was completed in 1941. Gutzon Borglum’s death in March 1941 left the sculpture to an uncertain fate but his son Lincoln Borglum took over till the end of work in October 1941. Nearly three million visitors are known to visit Mount Rushmore annually.

The construction of the sculpture at Mt. Rushmore cost $989,992.32 in all. The cave behind the sculpture is called the “Hall of Records” and was initially intended to house the historic relics associated with the monument but could not be completed due to lack of funding. Mount Rushmore has been over seen by the National Park Service since 1933, even as the sculpture was being constructed

Statue of Liberty National Monument

Statue of Liberty National Monument

A symbol of freedom, the Statue of Liberty stands in the New York Harbor, welcoming newcomers to the United States. Given to the United States as a gift from France, the statue was designed by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi and dedicated in 1886.

The sculpture is designed in the neoclassical style, and represents the Roman goddess of freedom, Libertas. Lady Liberty, as she is often called, holds a lit torch and a tablet, called thetabula ansata, on which is written July 4, 1776 — the date of US independence. A broken chain sits around the base of her feet, symbolizing breaking free.

The Statue of Liberty is maintained by the National Parks Service, and visitors can make reservations to voyage up into the statue to the crown observation deck.

Holy Trinity Column in Czech Republic

Holy Trinity Column at Olomouc, Czech Republic

The Holy Trinity Column is a Baroque style monolith in the city of Olomouc in the Czech Republic. Constructed from 1717 to 1754, the column was intended to honor and praise God for ending the Plague, which had killed many people, and ended just two years before the tower’s construction began. The structure, also known as a plague column or Marian column, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Holy Trinity Column is one of the most impressive examples of its kind because of its grand size, including a chapel housed within the base, and elaborate decorations, and the use of stone and gilded copper.

Olomouc was once the capital of Moravia, before it became Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic. The builders of the Holy Trinity Column mostly came from Olomouc, and much of the artwork that decorates the column has symbolic connections to the city. Many of the craftsmen who worked on the column suffered various misfortunes and died before the work could be completed. The sculptures were completed by a local artist, Ondrej Zahner. The style they created eventually became known as Olomouc Baroque.

The completed column was consecrated during a ceremony on September 9, 1754, which the Empress Maria Theresa and her husband Francis I attended. The Prussian military attacked Olomouc in 1758, causing some damage to the column. Though the column was soon repaired, a stone shot was added to the column to symbolize the history of the monument. The Holy Trinity Column stands as a testament to the religious traditions and history of the city of Olomouc.

The column sits atop a circular base with a hexagon stacked on top of it. The ground level contains a chapel, and has a pedestal at each point of the hexagon, each with a statue of a saint. The same concept is used on the middle tier and the top tier. Each of the major saints from the Baroque period are featured, along with the virtues. From the top tier extends a pillar, which stands 10 meters (33 feet) tall. The pillar is decorated with various sculptures of the Virgin Mary and angels, Jesus on the cross, a globe, and the Archangel Michael, and a dove representing the Holy Spirit.