Climbing the Pilgrim Monument on Cape Cod
It has 116 steps and 60 ramps - not a journey for the weak-of-heart, or for the short-of-breath - but if you make the climb to the top of the Pilgrim's Monument, you can see Cape Cod and the bay from a bird's eye view.
The granite monument, which commemorates the landing of the Pilgrims in Provincetown on Nov. 11, 1620, was built in the early 1900s. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone, and in 1910 the monument was finished. Today it stands as a tall, thin, four-sided tower that shoots up from downtown Provincetown, which is the tip of Cape Cod.
The view from the top of the Pilgrim Monument. All Photos/C. Danko © 2001-2009
There are no elevators to the top, but reading the writing along the walls on the journey up will tell you a little about the growth of Massachusetts, with stones marking dates communities in the Commonwealth were founded. The climb up has the feel of ascending a medieval turret, and the stairs can quickly wear out little legs, or big legs carrying toddlers to the top. When you reach the top, you can look out in all directions: toward the ocean, back at the cape, toward Boston, or straight down into the town below.
Getting There
The monument is located downtown, on the corner of Bradford and Winslow streets. It is open April through November.
