Tag:historic=monument

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Public-images-osm logo.svg historic = monument
Befreiungshalle P1230106.jpg
Description
A memorial object, which is especially large, built to remember, show respect to a person or group of people or to commemorate an event. Show/edit corresponding data item.
Rendering in OSM Carto
Monument-16.svg
Group: historic
Used on these elements
may be used on nodesshould not be used on waysmay be used on areas (and multipolygon relations)should not be used on relations (except multipolygon relations)
Useful combination
See also
Status: de facto

A memorial object, which is especially large (one can go inside, walk on or through it) or very tall (see the examples), built to remember, show respect to a person or group of people or to commemorate an event.

 Monuments are often built in homage to past or present political/military leaders or religious figures/deities.

Warning: this tag is commonly misused, please look at the warnings section!

How to map

Place a node node at the centre or draw a way area around the outline of the building.

Tags used in combination

  • name=* - the name of the monument
  • historic:civilization=* - the civilization (culture) that created the monument
  • height=* - height
  • material=* - building material
  • architect=* - architect name
  • monument=statue - specifies a monument as a statue
  • start_date=* - inauguration date.
  • wikidata=* - the ID of the specific Wikidata item about the monument
  • subject:wikidata=* - the ID of the Wikidata item about the person, group, or event, commemorated
  • heritage=* - if the building is recognized as being of historic value by an authority

Similar tags

  • historic=memorial - Much like a monument, but smaller. Might range from a WWII memorial to a simple plate on a wall.
  • man_made=obelisk - Tall, narrow, four-sided, tapering monument which usually ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top.
  • tourism=artwork for public art

Warnings

  • If the building commemorates nothing then you should use another value of the historic=* (see "Historical objects") or use historic=yes.
  • If it commemorates something/somebody and one can't tell it's "monumental" in size then it shouldn't be tagged as a monument but as a historic=memorial.
  • Don't trust the names:
    • Some small structures are called "xxx monument" but should be tagged as historic=memorial.
    • Some big structures are called "xxx memorial" but should be tagged as historic=monument.
  • In many countries this tag is very disruptive because the words "historic" and "monument" are associated to designate a national heritage building. It's true for France, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Spain and certainly other countries. This leads to errors : people use this tag to map heritage objects that commemorate nothing.

    You can check the inappropriate use of "historic=monument" with the tool "CheckTheMonuments" and correct the errors if you have the knowledge about the objects.

  • The size matters for the determination of a "monument" in OpenStreetMap

    With the height it could be interesting to look at the width and the area occupied.

    A "monument" may not be necessarily very high but still monumental if we take into account its other dimensions.

  • For natural monuments use denotation=natural_monument
  • A "boundary monument" is a type of geodetic monument, a man_made=survey_point. They do not commemorate people or events.

Examples

You'll find below some objects that are really "monuments" as described in OpenStreetMap.

The height is specified in meters (without the pedestal for statues).

Triumphal arches Buildings Mounds Columns
Crosses Obelisks Sculptures Statues
Structures Towers

Photos

To visualize the "monumental" aspect that the monuments must have to be historic=monument.

The classification is made by type. Two different examples for each one. The height is in metres.

See also

Definition in other languages.