10 most controversial monuments around the world

Monuments are symbols of cultural significance, as they have history etched on them. But they too can't escape being the subject of human conflict for one reason or another. From statues of historically relevant figures to memorials that commemorate contentious events, these monuments signify the complexity of understanding and interpreting history through architecture and art. With intense debates, they often become battlegrounds for conflicting and contradictory narratives. As we, as a society, evolve, our way of perceiving certain monuments and the ideas behind them might change. There is a direct interplay between modern values and memory when it comes to the changing interpretation of monuments. Let us delve into 10 such monuments that are acknowledged for their architecture but are also topics of great debate.

Built in 1869, this shrine is dedicated to more than 2.5 million Japanese soldiers who died during wars since the 19th century. It also includes the names of soldiers who fought during the two gruesome and bloody World Wars. The Yasukuni shrine was funded by the government until 1945. The monument was central to the state religion, Shintoism, which helped the Japanese government motivate countrymen to fight in the wars. However, those being honored include 14 'War Criminals' as well, which is a hard pill to swallow for the Koreans and Chinese, who have bitter memories of the Japanese army invading and occupying parts of China and the whole of Korea in 1910.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The column was constructed to honor Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. He is considered a hero among the British for defeating French leader Napoleon Bonaparte. All that is well and good, but the contention begins when we are told that Nelson was a supporter of the slave trade and was a ‘white supremacist.’ While people around him were slowly raising their voices against the discrimination toward Black people, Nelson was quite vocal about his racist views.

Who hasn’t heard of Christopher Columbus? His statues all around America might just justify his fame. However, through popular culture, he has been wrongly credited with ‘discovering’ America in 1492. To rectify the wrong glorification of such a notion, many states in the United States have renamed their yearly Columbus Day holiday as Indigenous Peoples’ Day or Native American Day instead.

The Stone Mountains depict statues of Confederate leaders, including Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederate States of America, alongside Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Not only that, but the location was also considered an important site for the Ku Klux Klan, where they held their first cross burning. The Confederate statues are symbols of previously held white supremacist behaviors, and hence people want them removed.

The Valley of the Fallen is considered "Spain's most controversial memorial." The valley is the burial ground for Spain’s dictator General Francisco Franco, who rose to power with the help of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. However, the monument also houses the graves of people who died during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, making this monument an issue of debate regarding what it truly symbolizes.

The legacy of this revolutionary figure is tainted by his promotion of guerrilla warfare to achieve his goal of social equality. His closeness to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro also raises a lot of eyebrows. The statue is situated in La Higuera, Bolivia, where he was assassinated. The town’s economy seems to bank on the memorial, which attracts many tourists. But the question remains: should such a controversial figure be monetized?

Located within Madrid's Parque del Buen Retiro, the Statue of the Fallen Angel is the only monument dedicated to the devil. The irony lies in the fact that the only statue of the devil is placed in a state where anyone who opposed the state's official religion, Catholicism, was punished.

While Mexicans respect this man, who is credited with establishing the Upper Rio Grande area, others remember him for exterminating the Acoma Pueblo people. Don Juan was a Spanish conquistador who colonized what is now known as New Mexico. According to reports, Don and his army carried out many atrocities on more than 800 people.

The statues of Joseph Stalin, a former dictator, have been the topic of much contention. His brutal acts and controversial decisions during his reign have long been criticized.

This monument, standing at 160 feet, was the brainchild of then-president of Senegal Abdoulaye Wade, who unveiled it in 2010. The monument was constructed when Senegal was facing an economic crisis, and people criticized the decision to squander public money.

​​Image Credit: Flickr


​