Monuments and memorials
In the towns and cities of most nations we will usually find monuments, memorials and statues that commemorate people and events that are important to a nation’s history and heritage. There are buildings, streets, squares, and even whole cities named after individual people that are considered to have made an important contribution to the town, city or country. When we visit a country these monuments and memorials are some of the go-to tourist attractions that will shape our initial impressions of the Nation. What will they tell us about its history and priorities?
Start with an online search by typing something like ‘National Memorials in [country]’ into a search engine.
Consider these questions:
- What important events in the nation’s history are commemorated by the most significant memorials?
- What type of events are they e.g. Political, Military, Natural?
- What types of people are commemorated with statues, streets and buildings? Are they mainly from one genre (e.g. military, literary, political, scientific, religious) or a mixture?
- What sort of activities are commemorated (e.g. discoveries, victories, self-sacrifice)
Capture some thoughts:
Find a picture of your country’s main monument(s), statue(s) or memorial(s), ready for the summary activity at the end of this section, and make some notes about some of the key memorials and monuments of each of the countries you are studying (those you would want to visit if you travelled there) on the Symbols of National Identity worksheet.