The National Mall The National Mall

The national mall formally reaches from the Washington Monument to the Capitol, but is commonly considered to include the area between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument as well. Photo by hinnosaar (CC BY 2.0)

Washington DC is littered with monuments, museums, and memorials. In many ways, the city is itself a monument representing the history of the American people, and the world. There is no greater concentration of this than the National Mall, which houses some of the nation's greatest treasures.

The National Mall technically reaches from the US Capitol Building, west to the Washington Monument, including an iconic stretch of grassy park and many museums and gardens between Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue. Commonly, the National Mall is also used to describe the area continuing beyond the Washington Monument, west to the Lincoln Memorial. The general area also includes the White House, just north of the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial to the south.

Memorials for World War II, the Vietnam Veterans, the Korean War Veterans, and more are in the area, making the National Mall a key destination for visitors to Washington DC.