Description of the attraction
The Australian War Memorial is Australia's premier memorial to soldiers who died in wars. Located in Canberra.
Charles Bean, an Australian historian of the First World War, first came up with the idea of creating a monument to Australian soldiers when he was studying the sites of military battles in France in 1916. Already in May 1917, the first collection of objects related to the military history of Australia was collected, which was first exhibited in Melbourne. The permanent building for the Memorial was completed in 1941, after the outbreak of World War II. The official opening took place on November 11 - Memorial Day. Today the Memorial is considered one of the most significant monuments of its kind in the world. It is located near the Parliament building, from the balcony of which a circular panorama of the monument opens.
The memorial consists of three parts: the Mausoleum with the Hall of Remembrance, which houses the tomb of the unknown Australian soldier, a museum and a research center. The Hall of Memory is built in the shape of an octagon, on the four walls of which - northwestern, northeastern, southwestern and southeastern - mosaics are laid with images of a Soldier, a Pilot, a Sailor and a Woman-soldier. Interestingly, the mosaics and stained glass windows were created by the one-armed Australian artist Napier Waller, who lost his arm during the First World War. In front of the Hall of Memory there is a narrow courtyard and a small pond, in the center of which is an eternal flame. Above the courtyard is a long covered gallery with the Plaque of Fame - bronze plates on which are carved the names of 102,000 dead Australian soldiers. Every day, when the Memorial closes in the evening, a small ceremony is held during which the audience can hear a short history of its creation and listen to the military verification signal before dawn.
Many consider the Australian and New Zealand Armed Forces Square (ANZAC Parade) to be part of the memorial, but this is not the case. The plaza is located off the northern shore of Lake Burleigh Griffin and leads to the base of the Memorial. Along each side of the square, there are a number of sculptures dedicated to various military campaigns, such as the Vietnam War, or the memory of the sisters of mercy. Near the lake itself there are monumental sculptures in the form of two giant basket handles donated by New Zealand. The idea for the creation of the sculptures was a proverb of the New Zealand Maori aborigines, which speaks of the traditional cooperation and closeness of the two Commonwealth countries.
