Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

You are approaching the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a white marble temple that has stood on this Riverside Park promontory since nineteen hundred and two. It is a striking sight, modeled closely after an ancient Greek structure from the fourth century before Christ called the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. While the original in Athens was built to celebrate a victory in a theatrical contest, this Manhattan version was raised to honor the Union soldiers and sailors of the American Civil War. It stands roughly one hundred feet tall, with twelve Corinthian columns encircling a central chamber, serving as a solemn companion piece to Grant’s Tomb, which sits just two miles to the north.