The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a massive sculpture carved into the side of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. The sculpture features the faces of four former U.S. presidents: Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Each head is approximately 60 feet high. More than 90 percent of Mount Rushmore was carved using dynamite, says the National Park Service website.
The Confederate Memorial Carving, carved into the side of Stone Mountain, Georgia, is a depiction of three Confederate heroes: President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. The carving is located 400 feet above the ground and measures 90 by 190 feet. According to the Stone Mountain Park website, it is the largest high relief sculpture in the world.
The Crazy Horse Memorial remains under construction as of March 2011. Sculptors are slowly carving the image of a mounted Crazy Horse into the Black Hills of South Dakota. The head of the Native American war leader is complete, but much work remains. The head alone is 87 feet 6 inches high, but the completed carving will be 641 feet long by 563 feet high, says the Crazy Horse Memorial website.
The Giant Buddha of Leshan is carved into a cliff face in the Sichuan province in China. According to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention website, the 233-foot-tall statue is the largest Buddha in the world. Construction of the Buddha began in the early 8th century, and the project took 90 years to complete.
The Madara Rider is a representation of a medieval knight carved into a cliff near the village of Madara, Bulgaria. According to UNESCO, the horseman is located 75 feet above ground level in an almost vertical 328-foot high cliff. The carving dates back to the beginning of the 8th century. It was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.