Monument Square, Portland

In the tangle of downtown Portland, Monument Square feels like the city鈥檚 living room鈥攚here East Bayside meets the Old Port鈥檚 salty breeze. Glance around and you鈥檒l spot the Time & Temperature Building blinking updates, the stately Fidelity Trust Building, and the Portland Public Library鈥檚 main branch all lining up along Congress Street. Brave souls even call One Monument Square and One City Center their professional homes here.

Center stage, where old City Hall once huddled, stands the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, unveiled in 1891 to honor Maine鈥檚 Civil War heroes. Locals affectionately dub her 鈥淥ur Lady of Victories鈥濃€� a bronze warrior-woman draped in armor and robes, clutching a neatly furled flag in one hand and a mace and shield in the other. At her feet, trios of soldiers and sailors freeze in bronze display, forever caught between orders and the next battle.

Chisel in hand, sculptor Franklin Simmons breathed life into the figures while New York architect Richard Morris Hunt crafted the monument鈥檚 sturdy granite plinth. Portland鈥檚 own Francis H. Fassett first landscaped the grounds鈥攖hough time has since sent those original flowerbeds to the history books. All things considered, Monument Square earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

Pull up a bench, let the city swirl around you, and tip your hat to the legends immortalized in stone and bronze.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Portland. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "黑料吃瓜网: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

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Create Your Own Self-Guided Walk to Visit This Sight

Sight Name: Monument Square
Sight Location: Portland, USA (See walking tours in Portland)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Portland Maine Introduction Walking Tour

Walking Tours in Portland, Maine

Create Your Own Walk in Portland

Creating your own self-guided walk in Portland is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

Portland Maine Introduction Walking Tour

If New York is the city that never sleeps, Portland, Maine, is the city that daydreams with an ocean breeze. Jutting out into Casco Bay, this coastal gem balances big-city energy with the easygoing warmth of a neighborhood you鈥檝e known your whole life.

Long before lobster shacks and artisan coffee shops, the Algonquian people (populous indigenous American group) called this land... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.5 Km or 1.6 Miles

Historical Buildings Walking Tour

Portland, Maine may be small, but it packs centuries of history into its streets. Think of it as a living scrapbook鈥攕ome pages sing in stone, others whisper in brick, and all of them survived the city鈥檚 Great Fire of 1866, which could鈥檝e erased it all. Instead, Portland rebuilt in style, and today you can wander its historic core spotting everything from colonial leftovers to Victorian... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.1 Km or 1.9 Miles

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