The Lincoln Memorial stands at the west end of the National Mall as a neoclassical monument to the 16th President. It is surrounded by a peristyle of 36 fluted Doric columns, one for each of the thirty six states in the Union at the time of Lincoln's death, and two columns in-antis at the entrance behind the colonnade. The north and south side chambers contain carved inscriptions of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address and his Gettysburg Address. Lying between the north and south chambers is the central hall containing the solitary figure of Lincoln sitting in contemplation. The statue of Lincoln is 19 feet high and weighs 175 tons. Construction began in 1914, and the memorial was opened to the public in 1922.
