The National Monument to the Forefathers stands on a hill above Plymouth, larger and stranger than many visitors expect. Completed in the late nineteenth century, the granite monument is dominated by a seated figure of Faith, with smaller allegorical figures around the base representing ideas such as Liberty, Education, Law, and Morality. It is less visited than Plymouth Rock, but far more imposing.
The monument is a good place to step back from the crowded waterfront version of Plymouth's story. Its scale says a great deal about how nineteenth-century New England wanted to remember the Pilgrims: solemn, moral, and monumental. The grounds are open and easy to combine with Burial Hill and the waterfront on a half-day walk.