Lafayette Square

Lonely Planet review

In 1804 President Thomas Jefferson decided to divide the White House grounds and give half the plot back to the public in the form of a park, now known as Lafayette Sq. A statue of Andrew Jackson astride a horse holds court in the center, while four statues of foreign-born Revolutionary leaders anchor the corners, recalling the non-American freedom fighters who helped ensure George Washington had a presidency to preside over in the first place.

In the southeast corner, check out the likeness of the Marquis de Lafayette, a Revolutionary War general by the age of 19! Although Lafayette was branded a traitor in his native France following the war, when he returned to the infant America in 1824 he was lauded with various honors, including this park. A more bizarre creation is found in the park's northeast corner. Here lies a memorial to Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a Polish freedom fighter and prominent engineer in Washington's army. The sculpture features the general towering over an angry imperial eagle killing a snake atop a globe. The inscription at the base is one of DC's most brazen. Taken from Scottish poet Thamas Cambell, it reads: 'And Freedom shrieked as Kosciuszko fell!'