Washington Monument: Secrets of the legendary American monument that tour guides don’t tell you about. Washington Monument, USA: description, photo, where it is on the map, how to get there Washington Monument, who was built by slaves

Led the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War against. He was honored as the "Father of the Nation" and unanimously elected as the first President of the United States of America.

The Washington Monument was created as a token of gratitude for the contributions he made to the new vision of a republican federal state where all people were equal.

In 1783, Congress approved Pierre Enfant's design for an equestrian statue of George Washington. However, this project was not destined to come true, and in 1833, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the birth of George Washington, James Madison and John Marshall founded the National Society for the Construction of a Monument to George Washington. They wanted to build the largest monument in the world, matching the size and magnificence of George Washington and reflecting the level of gratitude that US citizens felt for him.

The society began to raise funds for the construction of the monument. At first, each person was allowed to contribute only $1. By 1836, only $28,000 had been raised. This was not enough for the construction of any monument, but it was quite enough to hold a competition for the best memorial project, which was done.

The design competition, organized in 1836, was won by architect Robert Mills. In accordance with his plan, the monument was supposed to radiate the simplicity and magnificence that were inherent in George Washington himself. The project was a simple obelisk rising in the central part of the National Mall park. It was assumed that the height of the monument would reach 169.3 m, and the width at the base would be 16.8 m.

When the estimated cost of building the monument was calculated, the society decided not to set an upper limit on the per capita donation amount. Soon the society managed to raise $88,000, and construction began. After the monument was raised to a level of 46 meters, the society's money ran out and construction work had to be stopped. Construction was frozen for more than 20 years; in addition, the situation was aggravated by the outbreak of the American Civil War.

Interest in the Washington Monument was revived in 1876 - on the eve of the first centenary of the history of the United States. President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill confirming budgetary funding for the completion of construction of the memorial. This project was transferred to the Army Corps of Engineers, who completed construction in December 1884.

The monument was officially dedicated to George Washington the day before his birthday in 1885. But it was only in 1888 that the public was allowed to enter the monument, because until this period the interior finishing work had not been completed.

Here are some interesting facts about the Washington Monument:

On July 4, 1848, the corner stone of the Monument was laid. The same trowel that George Washington used to lay the corner stone of the Capitol in 1793 was used. To celebrate this solemn moment, several thousand people gathered around the construction site that day.

The thickness of the walls of the Monument is 4.57 meters at the base and 45 centimeters at the top.

The walls are covered with white marble, which was brought from Maryland.

Although the obelisk is hollow inside, its interior walls contain 189 memorial carvings that were donated by individuals, cities, states, societies and other countries around the world.

In 1858, construction was stopped due to the fact that the stones used at the level above 46 meters were of a darker tone compared to those below.

The Washington Monument is surrounded by flags representing the 50 states of the United States.

The total cost of construction of the Monument was $1,817,710.

Construction of the monument was completed 30 years after the death of its architect, Robert Mills.

However, due to criticism of the project and its cost - $1 million ($21 million in 2009 dollars) - the society did not decide to immediately accept the project. In 1848, it was decided to build an obelisk, and the issue of building a colonnade would be decided later. At this point, they had raised only $87,000, but decided that starting construction of the monument would increase the amount of donations and there would be enough money to complete the construction.

The modern monument is a hollow column with a tetrahedral pyramid in its upper part, inside of which there is an observation deck with eight windows on all four sides.

At the beginning of construction, the 255th Pope Pius IX, among many other patrons, also donated a slab for facing the monument. However, his stove was stolen and destroyed by the anti-Catholic and anti-Irish league, which went down in history under the name “Know-Nothings”. Later, the Dunnos gained control over the Monument Construction Society for some time, purchasing a controlling stake in the company. The control of the radical League of Know-Nothings over the Society for the Construction of the Monument led for some time to the refusal of the American state to participate in the project to build the Washington Monument.

The base of the monument contains a “Chinese stone” with a description of Washington in the treatise of Xu Ziyu (1795-1873), received for construction from Chinese Christians.

In 1938, disabled person Johnny Eck climbed the monument, becoming the first person in the world to conquer this structure without using his legs.

Washington Memorial: Thanks to God and Man

Americans love memorials. There are many of them in the country, they were built on the scale inherent in a great country, and usually their main idea is a tribute to the memory of a significant event or an outstanding personality. The capital of the state, the city of Washington, is perhaps the champion of significant memorials, and one of the most recognizable in the world, revered within the country -.

The story of the Washington Memorial: an unfinished work that turned out to be better than its design

To be very precise, the official name of the Memorial is: Washington National Monument. It was built in honor of the great American, one of the “founding fathers” of the nation, the first President of the United States, George Washington.

George Washington, in addition to his presidency, was also the Commander-in-Chief of American troops during the War of Independence from England, and also took an active part in writing the US Constitution (he headed the Convention that adopted its text).

Voices advocating the creation of a monument to such a revered man began to be heard during Washington’s lifetime. But in those days there were no necessary resources, and the young state was solving other, more pressing problems.

In the 30s of the XIX century, plans to create the Memorial flared up with renewed vigor, and a Society was created to deal with the project. The society took up two main things: collecting money (initially they decided to build with donations) and developing a project. The second task was assigned to architect Robert Mills.

Mills soon presented his project to customers. The author saw it in the form of a huge obelisk, around which there would be a colonnade, topped with a massive statue of Washington standing in a chariot. Next to the chariot were three dozen figures of prominent American revolutionaries.

Alas, this project was not destined to come to fruition. The first part of the Society's work - collecting money - failed. In fact, they collected a lot of them - a little less than 30 thousand dollars, a huge amount for those times! Contributions were made by both individuals and organizations.

But when construction began in 1848, it turned out that finances were still not enough. They decided to abandon the columns and chariot with figures, and leave only the grandiose obelisk 169.3 meters high. The granite obelisk was faced with marble from Maryland, and since construction was interrupted several times, the marble turned out to be of different shades, which is clearly visible even now.

In the end, the result turned out even better than the original project! Now the Washington Memorial is one of the most famous in the United States. Its stele is modeled after the legendary Egyptian lighthouse at Alexandria, and on the eastern side of the gleaming aluminum peak is carved two Latin words meaning “Glory to God.” Many researchers see Masonic signs in the appearance of the Memorial.

Interesting facts about the Washington Memorial

1. Before the construction of the Eiffel Tower, the Washington Memorial was the tallest building on the planet.
2. The total weight of the stele falls just a little short of 90 thousand tons.
3. Inside the stele there are 188 memorial plaques with information about those organizations, societies, and even individuals who collected money for construction. The slab in the name of Pope Pius IX was once stolen and thrown into the Potomac River.
4. During the protracted construction, the stele looked so unattractive for a long time that the then young journalist Mark Twain wrote: “It resembles a factory chimney with a cowshed at the base where tired pigs sleep.”
5. Around the Memorial there are US flags - according to the number of states.
6. Between the Washington Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial, located opposite, there is a man-made pond 600 meters long and 50 meters wide. It is designed in such a way that there are almost never waves on the surface, and both Memorials are reflected in the water, like in a huge mirror.
7. Entrance to the Monument is free, but there are always long queues. It is estimated that during the entire existence of the Memorial, about 72 million people visited it.

Washington Memorial today

Such a huge mass of tourists goes up in an elevator located inside the stele. The steam elevator was installed back in 1888, and electricity was supplied to it in 1901. In addition to the elevator, you can also climb up 896 steps. At the top, almost at the very “edge” of the stele, there is an observation deck with 8 windows looking in different directions of the world. From here, from a bird's eye view, almost the entire center of Washington is visible.

Below, at the entrance to the elevator, there is a majestic statue of Washington. On the days of the summer and winter solstice, the sun's rays from small windows fall directly on the top of the statue's head, which fuels further talk that the entire complex was built using some secret Masonic symbols.

In August 2011, an earthquake occurred in the eastern United States, after which engineers discovered small cracks on one side of the stele. The public became worried, because the Washington Memorial is one of the symbols of the country, it is recognizable, replicated in thousands of photographs, and appears in many famous films. But they hastened to reassure people: nothing seriously threatens the national shrine, and it is still considered one of the symbols of a free country.

George Washington is the first president of the United States of America, a legendary figure and one of the country's founding fathers. He rightfully occupies an honorable place in American history. To such a significant historical figure, the monument should be equally significant. And there it is, this is the most famous monument to the first president of the United States - the Washington Monument.

George Washington is so famous and revered that he is one of the four presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore.

Where is

Of course, this landmark is located in the heart of the United States in the city of Washington, 2200 meters west of the Capitol and 900 meters south of the White House.

Geographic coordinates 38.889490, -77.035347

general description

The Washington Monument is a flat, straight, tetrahedral pillar 169.046 meters high. Its upper part ends in a tetrahedral pyramid covered with aluminum.

Today this giant obelisk is visible from almost all points of the American capital. It is surrounded by fifty flagpoles bearing the flags of the fifty states of the United States.

The weight of the monument is 90854 tons. It consists of 36,491 stone blocks. The thickness of the monument's walls varies from 4.6 meters at the base to 18 inches (just over 45 cm) at the top. The width of the monument at the base is 16.8 meters.

The main building material was white marble from Maryland and Massachusetts, but granite and metal frame elements were also used in the design. A staircase of 897 steps is laid in the stone thickness of the obelisk. It leads to an observation deck at the top.

The walls of the stairwell contain 193 memorial stones from all 50 states and foreign countries. The state of Alabama contributed the first stone in 1849. Alaska was the last state to place its stone. In addition, there are stones donated by different people from all over the world, different societies, cities and states.

Besides the stairs, there is a more modern way to get to the top of the monument - an electric lift. The eight windows of the observation deck (2 on each side of the world) offer an incredible panorama of the American capital. From here you can clearly see the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol, the White House and the Jefferson Memorial. In clear weather, visibility from the top of the monument reaches 50 kilometers around.

Historical information

The history of the appearance of the monument dates back to 1832, on the centennial anniversary of George Washington. Local residents created an organization to raise funds for the construction of the monument.

Within a few years, they collected an impressive amount of $28,000 at that time (that’s about 1,000,000 modern dollars).

In 1836, architect Robert Mill won a competition to design the Washington Monument. His idea was based on the image of an ancient Egyptian obelisk, enlarged to an incredible height (remember, this is a little more than 169 meters). Until the appearance of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Washington Monument was considered the tallest structure on the planet, and now it is the tallest structure made of stone.

Mill's original project included, in addition to the obelisk, a semicircular colonnade with a rotunda in the spirit of ancient Greek temples. It was assumed that this building would become a kind of pantheon of America. It was planned to install 30 niches in the spaces between the columns, where statues of prominent American figures and heroes of the struggle for independence would be installed, and the dome of the rotunda was to be crowned with a bronze statue of George Washington dressed in a toga on a triumphal chariot. Mill's design was subsequently revised, and today many consider it fortunate that Mill's planned rotunda was never built.

The cornerstone of the monument was installed on July 4, 1848, but construction was soon interrupted due to lack of funds and organizational troubles. Then the Civil War broke out. Only in 1876 did work on the construction of the monument resume. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas L. Casy, who led the construction, significantly modified Mills' original plan, completely abandoning the colonnade and rotunda and concentrating all his efforts on the construction of the obelisk. The marble had to be brought from a different quarry than originally. Today it is clearly noticeable that at approximately 50 m the color of the obelisk changes, marking the boundary from which Mills' successors began work in 1876.

The monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885 and officially opened on October 9, 1888, almost 30 years after the death of the architect.

Washington Monument in tourism

In summer, the attraction is available to tourists from 9:00 to 22:00. The rest of the time 9:00 to 17:00. Holidays are July 4 (Independence Day) and December 25 (Catholic Christmas).

Visiting the monument is free, but a special pass is required.
About 1,000,000 people visit the monument every year. But the record attendance is 1966. Then the monument was visited by 2,059,300 tourists.

The Washington Monument is the world's tallest obelisk, which was founded in honor of the first US President George Washington in 1848. It rises between the Capitol and the White House.

The construction of the monument lasted more than thirty years and was completed only in 1884. All work on the construction of the monument was carried out with donations, which began to be collected back in 1832. In this memorable year, Washington could have turned one hundred years old. In 1836, a competition was held for the best design of the monument. The winner was Robert Mills, who proposed building an obelisk with a statue of the president at the top and surrounding the monument with a colonnade.

The estimated cost was more than substantial, so we settled on building only the monument. The funds ran out when the height of the obelisk reached forty-six meters. Thus, construction was frozen for twenty years. And only in 1876 work was resumed with budget funding. The construction of the monument was entrusted to the engineering troops, who coped with the task and completed construction by December 1884. People began to be allowed inside the obelisk in 1888 - only then were all finishing works completed.

Nowadays, the Washington Monument is a 169-meter hollow granite obelisk, the walls of which are lined with Maryland marble. The monument is surrounded by 50 (the number of American states) flags. At the top of the monument there is an observation deck with windows facing all directions. You can get there using an elevator or by climbing 896 steps.

Washington Monument - PHOTO