Monuments to Friendship Around the World

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1851 - Boundary Monument, Friendship Park, on international border between Border Field State Park, San Diego, California (USA), & Tijuana (Mexico). Monument of Italian marble made in New York, shipped around Cape Horn, and erected in 1851 (soon after the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848). When area started being call a Friendship Park has not be determined. Fence now separates the two countries and the monument. Mexican lighthouse and bull ring visible in background.

1860 - Friendship Monument, Friendship Park, Cartersville, Georgia (USA). "Mark Anthony Cooper commissioned the monument to honor 38 friends who had aided him in a financial crisis. Believed to be the only monument in existence erected by a debtor to honor his creditors."

Date? - Friendship Gate, Pingxiang (China) & Langson (Vietnam). Ancient gate on border between China & Vietnam. ."On February 23, 2009, a ceremony marking the completion of land border demarcation between China and Vietnam was held at the Youyiguan border gate in Pingxiang City in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region."

1911 - China-Korea Friendship Bridge, Yalu River, between Dandong, Liaoning (China) & Sinuiju (North Korea). Left image from China. Right image from North Korea. Second bridge built in 1943. Korean end of the original (1911) bridge destroyed by Americans during the Korean War.

1912 - "Comely Bank," Ridge Historic District, Chicago, Illinois (USA). House constructed in 1905. Residence of Rotary founder Paul P. Harris [1868-1947] from 1912 until his death in 1947. Grounds included an International Friendship Garden. Purchased by Paul & Jean Harris Home Foundation (PJHHF) and opened to the public in 2005.

1930's - Friendship Trees. A Rotary tradition perpetuated by Rotary founder Paul Harris. Among the cities in which he planted Friendship Trees during his travel are Berlin (Germany), Tallin (Latvia), Helsingfors (Finland), Gothenburg and Stockholm (Sweden), Bergen (Norway), Shanghai, (China), Tokyo (Japan), Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne and Sydney (Australia), Auckland, Dunedin and Wellington (New Zealand), Mexico City (Mexico), Panama City (Panama), Bogotá (Colombia), Lima (Peru), Santiago and Valparaiso (Chile), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Montevideo (Uruguay), and Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo (Brazil). (Source "My Road To Rotary.") Photo shows Harris planting a Friendship Tree in Newcastle in 1935.

1936 - International Friendship Gardens, US Highway 12, Michigan City, Indiana (USA). Permanent spinoff of the "Old Mill Garden" at the Chicago World’s Fair (“A Century of Progress International Exposition.”) in 1933-34. Theme of the "Old Mill Garden" was "Peace and Friendship To All Nations." Includes a Rotary Garden.

Older than 1965 - Rotary Friendship Garden, Evanston, Illinois (USA).

1954 - "Friendship of Nations" Fountain, All-Russian Exhibition Center (VVTs), Moscow (Russia). "The VVTs was foundated at 1939 as agricaltural exhibition of Soviet Union. The Fountain has gilded statues of maidens in the national costumes of the sixteen Soviet republics demurely encircle a golden wheat sheaf."

1957 - Friendship Monument, Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan (Russia). Celebrtes the friendship alliance established some 450 years ago between the Bashkirs and the Russians.

Date? - Friendship Gate, Torugart Pass, Border between Naryn Province (Kyrgyzstan) & Xinjiang Autonomous Region (China). Gate demolished in 2002?

December 11, 1960 - Yokohama Friendship Bell, Shelter Island, San Diego, California, USA. Gift from sister city Yokohama (Japan) to the City of San Diego. Designed by Masahiko Katori [1899-1988].

1961 - "Japanese temple bell of peace and friendship," near Judicial Building, State Capitol grounds, Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Gift from Prefecture of Yamanashi (Japan) to the State of Iowa in gratitude for agricultural relief in 1959.

1964 - John F. Kennedy Torch of Friendship, Bayfront Park, Miami, Florida (USA). Contains seals of Mexico & other Latin American countries.

March 1965 - Friendship Fountain, St. Johns River Park (aka Friendship Park), Southbank Riverwalk, Jacksonville (Florida). "The 'world’s largest and tallest' fountain when constructed. Now one of the city’s most recognizable and popular attractions for locals as well as tourists. Many residents have an emotional attachment to the fountain, and it is a meeting point for people and organizations hosting downtown events. The fountain and its architect Taylor Hardwick, were the focus of an advertisement campaign by German manufacturer Hansgrohe."

Dates? - Tríplice Fronteira (Portuguese) / Triple Frontera (Spanish) / Triple Frontier (English). "A tri-border area in Brazil, Argentina & Paraguay, where the Iguazú & Paraná Rivers converge. Near Foz do Iguacu, Paraná (Brazil), Puerto Iguazú, Misiones (Argentina), Ciudad del Este, Alto Paraná (Paraguay), Iguazú Falls & the Itaipú hydroelectric plant... Each of the three countries has erected an obelisk painted in its national colors. All three countries can be seen from each of the obelisks."

Date? - Hito Tres Fronteras, Tres Fronteras Avenue, Puerto Iguazu (Argentina). "Monument in Argentina to the Triple Frontier. Here at this point in Argentina can be seen Brazil & Paraguay. The only site in the world to see three countries [sic]... Also operates a craft fair where gifts are sold typical of Misiones province."

1965 - Ponte da Amizade (Portuguese) / Puente de la Amistad (Spanish) / Friendship Bridge (English), Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil) & Ciudad del Este (Paraguay). 552-meter bridge across the Paraná River. Just upstream from the triple point with Argentina at the mouth of the Iguazú River.

August 3, 1965 - Friendship Monument, Hiroshima (Japan). Depicts hand holding by people from all four quarters of the globe. Erected by Japan Association of Casualty Insurance Underwriters. Info from Pocket Peace Guide.

August 6, 1965 - World Friendship Center (WFC), 8-10 Higashi Kan-on, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima (Japan). Founded on 20th anniversary of the bomb by American Barbara Leonard Reynolds [1915-1990] who also founded the Peace Resources Center (PRC) at Wilmington College of Ohio (USA) in 1975. "Not only a 'home away from home' for travelers to Hiroshima, it is a place where local Hiroshima residents volunteer their hospitality of peace in a variety of activities." Supported by Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) & by the American Committee of the WFC, currently chaired by Mary Ann Albert of Warsaw, Indiana (USA).

April 15, 1966 - Statue of Abraham Lincoln, Luis G. Urbina Park (since renamed Parque Lincoln), Polanco, Mexico City (Mexico). Gift of the United States presented by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Reproduction of a satue made in 1887 by Augustus Saint-Gaudens for Chicago's Lincoln Park.

1969 - Statue of Benito Juarez, Foggy Bottom, Virginia & New Hampshire Avenues, Washington, DC. (USA). Sculpted by Enrique Alciati. Gift from Mexico in exchange for a statue of Abraham Lincoln. Juarez is the 'George Washington of Mexico,' and the statue points to the bust of Washington at George Washington University. Benito Pablo Juarez Garcia [1806-1872] was a full-blooded Zapotec Indian who became the first president of Mexico. He corresponded with Abraham Lincoln to get advice on how to establish a democracy, particularly one plagued with interracial problems.

1966 - Monument to Eternal Peace Between Japan & China, Hanaoka, Nagano Prefecture (Japan). "In the 1950s, the Japan-China Friendship Association (Nit-Chu Yuko Kyokai) excavated remains of the forced laborers who died in Hanaoka, sent them to the People’s Republic of China, and built a monument to remember the victims and atone for the atrocity."

June 1968 - Ruta de la Amistad / Route of Friendship, Olympics, Mexico City (Mexico). Nineteen sculptures along a 17 kilometer segment of the Anillo Periferico / Preferential Highway. Designed by international artists for the 1968 Olympic Games.

May 19, 1969 - Friendship Statue, Puolalanpuisto Park, Turku (Finland). Bronze, height 2.5 m. Red granite pedestal, 0.5 m high. By Antti Louhisto [1918–1989]. Erected by the City of Turku to symbolize the 15-year friendship between Turku and Leningrad (today St. Petersburg).

1969 - Amistad Dam, between Del Rio, Texas (USA). & Cuidad Acuna (Mexico). Image shows both national emblems on the border inthe middle of the dam.

1971 - Egyptian-Russian Friendship Monument, Aswan High Dam, Nile River, Egypt. 71-meter tower designed by Soviet sculptor Ernst Neizvestny. Commemorates Soviet help in the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Also known as the Lotus Flower Tower.

T O W E R

B E L L

April 8, 1975 - Friendship Tower, Bagac (Philippines). Built by Rissho Kosei-kai of Japan as a sign of friendship and peace between the Philippines and Japan. Helps mark the places where the Bataan Death March started in 1942 (one in Bagac and the other in Mariveles). Dedication coincided with date on which Rissho Kosei-kai celebrates the birth of the Buddha Shakyamuni, founder of Buddhism.

Date? - International Friendship Exhibition, Myohyangsan / Mt. Myohyang (North Korea). "One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen on the Korean peninsula... At either end are ornate structures with traditional Korean architecture (to the top and bottom of the image) -- the two main 'friendship' exhibits, one devoted to "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung [1912-1994] (top), the other to "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il (bottom). "There are over 200,000 gifts, including a football signed by Pele, a basketball signed by Jordan, old Apple computer produced in 2000, Samsung computer produced in 2003, furnitures given by S.Korean company, even pictures of animals & plants they received. Of course they were many portraits of the two leaders, anti-American posters & statues (the most impressive, an American map smashed in a tiger's claw), New York Times with Kim Jong il on the front page. I had complex feelings -- the world most isolated country is still trying hard to build the 'image' of getting along with foreign countries."

October 3, 1976 - Korean Bell of Friendship, Angel's Gate Recreation Center, 3601 South Gaffey Street, San Pedro, California (USA). Near Los Angeles (whose sister city in Korea is Pusan). Gift from Korea to the people of the USA for the US bicentennial. Entry #80 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

A R C H

1977 - Friendship Gate, Chinese Cultural Garden, Overfelt Gardens, San Jose, California (USA).

1982 - Bicentennial Friendship Fountain, Sterns Whart, base of State Street, Santa Barbara, Calfornia (USA). Sculpted by local artist James (Bud) Bottoms.

1987 - Fuente de los Delfines / Fountain of the Dolphins, Malecon, Puerto Vallarta (Mexico). Sculpted by James (Bud) Bottoms in sister city Santa Barbara, CA (USA).

T O W E R

1983 - Monument to "Eternal Friendship," Moscow (Russia). Honors the 200th anniversary of the Georgievsky Treaty between Russia and Georgia. 35m tall. By Zurab Tsereteli.

Date? - "Soviet Monument to Russian-Georgian Friendship," Gudauri, on border between Russia & Georgia. Date unknown. Photos indicate crumbling concrete.

A R C H

January 31, 1984 - Friendship Gate, Chinatown, 10th & Arch Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA). "An internationally known landmark & symbol of cultural exchange & friendship between Philadelphia & its sister city Tianjin."

A R C H

A R C H

1984 - Friendship Arch, Kiev (Ukraine). Locally called "The Yoke," the arch is 50 meters across and leads to a view of the Dnieper River. Bronz and granite statues under the arch. Erected on the 325th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereiaslav, which tied the Ukraine to Russia.

A R E N A

1985 - Stadio Erinis Kai Filias / Peace and Friendship Stadium (SEF), Faliro, Piraeus, Athens (Greece). A multi-use indoor sports arena renovated for the 2004 Olympic Games.

A R C H

1986 - Friendship Gate, Chinatown, H Street at 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC (USA). Gift from Beijing (China) to its sister city Washington, DC. Said to be the largest gate of its type in the world.

1986 - Monumento por la Paz y la Amistad de los Pueblos / Monument for Peace and Friendship of Peoples, Paso de los Libres, Corrientes (Argentina). "Located on a hill from where you can enjoy the scenery that surrounds it. To foot the plaque in adhesion is the [UN] International Year of Peace, to promote spiritual, cultural & social integration of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay & Brazil." [Google translation]. Paso de los Libres lies on the right-hand (western) shore of the Uruguay River, opposite the city of Uruguaiana, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), to which it is joined by a road & railway bridge (Paso de los Libres-Uruguaiana International Bridge). HANDS 1986

Date? - Monumento da Paz / Peace Monument, Praça Internacional, Santana do Livramento, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) / Rivera (Uruguay). On border between Brazil & Uruguay. BORDERS URUGUAY

B E L L

About 1990 - Friendship Bell, Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Seattle, Washington (USA). Gift from Yosoji Kobayashi, President of Nippon Television Network Corp. (NHK) and the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper chain (which buys newsprint from the State of Washington).

1986-1991 - Arctic Arc, Cape Dezhnev, Naukan (Russia) & Cape Prince of Wales, Wales, Alaska (USA). A joint project by Michigan sculptor David Barr and Alaskan artist Joe Senungetuk. Two "sculpture installations" evoking a bird, a boat, and a hand extended in friendship. About 60 miles (97 km) apart on each side of the Bering Sea at sites of the first human migrations into North America. According to Barr, "the two sculptures are a peaceful symbol for a border of international tension."

B R I D G E

April 8, 1994 - Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, Mekong River (Thailand & Laos). Connects Nong Khai (Thailand) & Vientiane (Laos). "With a length of 1,170 m, the bridge has two 3.5 m-wide road lanes, two 1.5 m-wide footpaths and a single metre gauge railway line in the middle, straddling the narrow central reservation."

May 1994 - Friendship Gate, Vladivostok (Russia). Other Pacific Rim Parks are in San Diego (USA), Tijuana (Mexico) & Yantai (China).

May 3, 1996 - International Friendship Bell, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (USA). Represents 50th anniversary of the City of Oak Ridge. Paid for in part by contributions by the people of sister city Naka-Machi (Japan). Only inscriptions on the bell are PEACE, INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP, and the dates of Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and VJ Day. Bell cast by Sotetsu Iwasawa, Iwasawa no Bonsho Co., Ltd., Kyoto (Japan). Pavilion designed by Professor Jon Coddington. To hear this bell click here.

January 17, 1997 - Espaço das Américas / Space of the Americas, Avenida General Meira (Km 10), Port Meira, Foz do Iguacu (Brazil). At confluence of the Iguazú & Paraná Rivers. Opposite Argentina & Paraguay. "With more than 2,000 m of built area, the Espaço das Américas aims to organize events of political, business & cultural issues between the member countries of the Mercado Comum do Sul [Mercosur] or issues related to the environment... The beautiful meeting of these two great rivers is the setting for this imposing circular building supported by steel frames, basaltic rocks & eucalyptus combined with modern interior design that has the capacity to accommodate up to 400 people... Open for visits from Monday to Sunday from 9:00 to 19:00." [Google translation].

October 31, 2000 - Flame of Friendship /Flama de la Amistad, Convention Center, San Diego, California (USA). By Leonardo Nierman of Mexico City (Mexico). A gift from the Government of Mexico that was presented to the people of San Diego as a gesture of friendship. Has stunning vistas of San Diego Bay. The sculpture is made of polished stainless steel and is nearly 21-feet in height.

2001 - Friendship Monument, Shoreline Boulevard at Lawrence Street, Corpus Christi, Texas (USA). "Bronze sculpture of Captain Blas Maria de la Garza Falcon by artist Sherman Coleman, M.D. The Westside Business Association sponsored this statue. The statue pays tribute to Falcon, an empressario credited with founding the first Spanish settlement north of the Rio Grande, near Petronila in 1764. In 1762, Falcon was commissioned to explore the Nueces River area by Don Jose de Escandon, the Governor of Nuevo Santander, a Spanish Territory extending from the San Antonio River to the Punuco River near Vera Cruz, Mexico. He later brought the first longhorn cattle to South Texas when he established a ranch in the area."

January 11, 2002 - Japan-Palau Friendship Bridge (Palau). Three-span extradosed bridge with a length of 413 meters. "Replaced the former Koror-Babeldaob Bridge which collapsed on September 16, 1996, severing water and power to the island of Koror. Until the new bridge was constructed the only connection to the capital and the airport on Babeldaob was via ferry service across the channel."

2002 - Torch of Friendship, San Antonio, Texas (USA). Fifty-ton sculpture made in Mexico. A gift to San Antonio from the Association of Mexican Entrepreneurs. According to scu;ptor Sebastian, "Obviously, I thought of all the possible allegorical meanings of a burning torch, such as the fire of friendship, relationships, strength, and creativity. The complexity of the work is that it is in two parts; in this case from two countries, which is complex but the same time satisfying, festive, and friendly."

September 2002 - Friendship Gate, between Chaman (Pakistan) & Spin Boldak (Afghanistan). "Two large ochre arches covered in blue tiles, overlooking scores of ramshackle Afghan and Pakistani traders' stalls in a one-kilometer no-man's land....completed in September, but its official inauguration has been postponed back several times. Shah blames the Kabul administration. 'The local Afghan authorities want this,' he said, 'but it's the people in Kabul who are making problems.'" "One of nearly 1,000 posts on the Afghan-Pakistani border. At night, the border is largely unguarded, allowing Taliban fighters, weapons, and drugs to pass through."

May 17, 2003 - Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park, Downtown Eastern Ohio Riverfront, Cincinnati, Ohio (USA). "A group of design professionals, artists, educators and sister city representatives - which was formed to promote a 'peace park' - asked the Cincinnati Park Board to name the property International Friendship Park, to commemorate international understanding and friendship." Theodore M. (Ted) Berry [1905-2000] was Cincinnati's first African American mayor (December 1972 to November 1975).

July 2003 - Peace Pole, Riverscape MetroPark, Deeds Point, Webster Street, Dayton, Ohio (USA). Donated by Friendship Force of Dayton to outdoor "Centennial of Flight" exhibit (which -- according to the exhibit -- climaxed with the Dayton Peace Accords on December 24, 1995).

Date? - Friendship Force Wall, Perth, Western Australia (Australia). "There is a Friendship Force Wall complete with plaques of all the clubs that visited Perth throughout the years. We were invited to a tree planting in our honor and to view our latest addition..."

Date? - Friendship Force Monument, Alajuela, Guadalupe (Costa Rica). GLOBES

July 12, 2003 - International Peace & Friendship Monument, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, Texas (USA). Similar monument in sister city Bad Königshofen (Germany).

Date? - Peace & Friendship Monument, Arlington Park, Bad Königshofen (Germany). Celebrates sister city relationship with Arlington, Texas (USA).

August 24, 2004 - World Peace Monument, Korea-Japan Friendship Training Center, Soka Gakkai International (SGI), Cheju Island (South Korea). Has six bronze statues representing the six continents: Asia, Africa, Oceania, North America, South America & Europe. Click here for other SGI peace monuments.

April 30, 2006 - World Poet Laureates' Monument, SGI-'s Korea-Japan Friendship Training Center, Soka Gakkai International (SGI), Cheju Island (South Korea). Commemorates May 3, Soka Gakkai Day. Inscribed with a quote from SGI President Daisaku Ikeda. Bronze busts of Indian poet and educator Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Italian poet laureate Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), and British poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850) were also unveiled. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Mr. Ikeda's receiving the title of Poet Laureate (1981, by World Congress of Poets) as well as the 11th anniversary of World Poet Laureate Award (1995, by World Poetry Society).

May 2007 - Quanzhou Taiwan Friendship Museum, North section of Bei Qing Lu Quanzhou, Fujian Province (China). "Right across the strait from Taiwan lies a museum with a decidedly impressive design, and a decidedly predictable slant on China-Taiwan relations. Surely these displays aren't the only media from which Chinese schoolchildren learn that "Fujian migrants turned Taiwan from a wasteland into a rich and popular island," and that "Taiwan has been part of China's territory from everlasting." Hopefully, though, no textbooks repeat one of the display's assertion about the Japanese: "A handful of scum of a nation who betrayed their ancestors and country". The propaganda should be a kick for foreigners of all age and stripe, but there is quite a bit of art besides. Much is devoted to Mazu, the goddess of the southeast Asian seas beloved by so many and known by so few outside. The intricate Minnan mosaics are another brief distraction from hunting up more examples of subjective political opinion thinly disguised as cultural edification."

October 14, 2009 - Walt Whitman Monument, Moscow State University, Moscow (Russia). Dedicated by US Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton (right image). "Reciprocal for the statue of Alexander Pushkin (left image) that was placed on the campus of The George Washington University in Washington, DC," in June 1999.

October 29, 2009 - China-US Peace & Friendship Sculpture, Recreation Center, Georgia State University (GSU), Piedmont Avenue & Decatur Street, Atlanta, Georgia (USA). One of six such sculptures in the US & China. The words "peace" and "friendship" are engraved in Chinese, English, French, Spanish and Arabic. Inscription: "We casted peace and friendship, the most desired and cherished words of man kind into this sculpture as a present to the hometown of President Jimmy Carter from thousands of miles away, China. This sculpture is to commemorate the 30th anniversary of establishment of formal diplomatic relations between China and the United States, which symbolizes the sincere hopes and best wishes of Chinese people for lasting peace and friendship between our two countries." http://uncw.edu/intprogs/images/Shanghai_000.jpg