Brief History of the Statue of Liberty in America. What is the Statue of Liberty made of? Little known interesting facts about the Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty it is one of the most celebrated, well-known symbols of American freedom. It is located on Liberty Island in the middle of the Hudson River in New York, USA.

What was the Statue of Liberty built for?

The Statue of Liberty, its official name is “Liberty, Illuminates the World”, also has another affectionate name, as “Lady of Liberty”, which has become one of the symbols of freedom and democracy. The classic appearance of the statue is the prototype of the ancient Rome statue of the Goddess of Liberty, which was built against the oppression of the people and tyranny.

Height of the Statue of Liberty?

The Statue of Liberty is the figure of a woman holding a torch. The statue is made of pure copper, which is set on a base of steel, which in turn is covered with gold leaf. She stands on top of a rectangular stone pedestal in the shape of an irregular star. The statue has a height of 46 meters, if you add a pedestal and foundation here, you get 93 meters. The face of the Statue of Liberty is 2.4 meters high. The Statue of Liberty weighs over 225 tons.

What is inside the Statue of Liberty?

Inside the statue there is a staircase with 354 steps that goes to its top. It has 25 viewing windows on its crown. The seven rays of freedom in the crown of the statue symbolize the seven continents of the world and the seven seas. His torch signifies enlightenment. The tablet in the hand of the Statue of Liberty means knowledge, where the date of the declaration of independence of the United States is written in Roman numerals: "July IV MDCCLXXVI". The statue is located in the central part of the island and is a national monument, which is under the protection of the National Park Service.

History of the Statue of Liberty.

The Statue of Liberty signifies the alliance between France and the United States during the American Revolution from 1775 to 1783. It was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi. The French at one time donated money for the construction of the statue.

The first model of the Statue of Liberty, in 1870, was built on a small scale. The story begins with this, this was the first statue that is now in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. And the second copy of the statue, also on a small scale, is located in the city of Maceio in northeastern Brazil.

Meanwhile, during the construction of the statue of Liberty Bartholdi, the help of engineers was required to solve certain design problems that are associated with the installation of a colossal copper sculpture. Eiffel Tower designer Gustav Fiffel was commissioned to design the statue's huge skeletal base that would allow it to stand upright.

On June 30, 1878, at the Paris Exhibition, the head of the Statue of Liberty was exhibited, which was organized in the garden of the Trocadero Palace. At that time, like others, parts of the statue were shown in another exhibition at Champs de Mars.

By an act of the US Congress in 1877, it was decided to bring and install the statues of Liberty to America. General William Sherman was chosen to be commissioned for delivery and installation. The place of construction and installation of the statue was also chosen - an island on the Hudson River.

On February 18, 1879, Bartholdi was issued a US patent for the industrial design of the statue No. D11,023. The decision to finance the Statue of Liberty was made in July 1882.

Once the statue was ready to ship to the United States, there were some problems with being melted down across the Atlantic. The pedestal on which she was supposed to stand did not fit into the ship. But still, the statue was prepared for transportation across the ocean, it was divided into 350 separate parts and then packed into 214 boxes.

Finally, on June 17, 1886, the statue arrived in New York Harbor, and was officially installed on the massive Memorial, designed by Richard Morris. Which was built with funds raised by newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer.

In 1956, the US Congress passed the Wood Island "Liberty Island" Act.

Wood Island in turn was built and fortified with a plinth in the 19th century, of concrete and granite in the shape of a limited star, to protect New York during the war in 1812.

The statue was in conservation, boxes, for eleven months, waiting for its pedestal. In the United States, the first nail in the statue's construction was hammered in by the French minister, P. Levi Morton. The long-awaited construction and installation began.

Finally, on October 28, 1886, it was inaugurated by President Grover Cleveland in front of thousands of spectators.

In 1924, the monument was declared a national monument. And in 1933, the statue was transferred to the National Park Service. By the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, between 1984 and 1986, it was reconstructed.

Like other historical monuments managed by the National Park Service, Liberty statue, along with Ellis Island and Liberty, in 1966 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And in 1972, President Nixon, at the base of the pedestal, opened the American Museum dedicated to immigration.

The Statue of Liberty was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1984. And in 2007, he was among the 20 finalists in the New Seven Wonders of the World competition.

Millions of tourists from all over the world visit the Statue of Liberty every year. And through the observation deck of the statue, a beautiful view opens up in which you can spend your own.

Statue of Liberty became an international symbol of freedom. Have you been there, write in the comments.

Jeroen van Luin / flickr.com Alan Strakey / flickr.com Liberty Island, New York, USA (Delta Whiskey / flickr.com) Statue of Liberty, New York, USA (Mobilus In Mobili / flickr.com) Andy Atzert / flickr .com Anthony Quintano / flickr.com Liberty Island, New York (Phil Dolby / flickr.com) Anthony Quintano / flickr.com Chris Tse / flickr.com sylvain.collet / flickr.com Plaque in the left hand of the Statue of Liberty with date of adoption Declaration of Independence (Pete Bellis / flickr.com) ali sinan köksal / flickr.com Jon Dawson / flickr.com Tom Thai / flickr.com Wilhelm Joys Andersen / flickr.com David Ohmer / flickr.com Justin / flickr.com Statue of Liberty Torch (Mike Clarke / flickr.com) Top view of the Statue of Liberty (StatueLibrtyNPS / flickr.com)

The Statue of Liberty is the main symbol of the American people, the idea of freedom. In addition, this is another symbol of the New York metropolis.

The majestic building in America is located on Liberty Island. Approximately 3,000 meters southwest of Manhattan Island, New York. Until the year 56 of the last century, the island in the USA, which now adorns the Statue of Liberty, was referred to as Bedloe. Although at the beginning of the century it was already nicknamed the "Island of Freedom".

In the right hand of the statue, which is 12.8 meters long, a torch burns. On the left is a tablet, the length of which is 4.14 meters. It bears the date of the Declaration of Independence of the United States from Great Britain.

Broken chains are seen under the feet of the statue, which, in turn, symbolizes liberation. On the head, the distance from the chin to the back of the head is 5.26 meters. The length of the nose is 1.37 meters.

Statue of Liberty 7 Prong Crown, New York (sylvain.collet / flickr.com)

The statue is crowned with a crown of 7 teeth. It is a symbol of the seven seas and at the same time the seven continents. According to geography, there are only seven continents on the globe: Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica. Seven seas mean the same number of parts of the oceans. Also, windows are made in the crown, which shine like diamonds in the sun and decorate it.

Another fact is that visitors usually walk 192 steps to climb the pedestal. And in order to climb to the very top, you need to overcome 356 steps. The size of the statue is very impressive. The total height of the structure is 93 meters. And the height of the particular statue is 46 meters.

To visit this attraction, you need to get to the island by ferry. Usually they climb to the very top, from where you can admire the stunning panorama of New York and its harbor, indescribable.

Who gave the Statue of Liberty to America?

Despite the fact that the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of America and New York, it was by no means made in the States. Where did she come from then?

Tablet in the left hand of the Statue of Liberty with the date of the Declaration of Independence (Pete Bellis / flickr.com)

The attraction is interesting because it is a gift from France on Independence Day to the States. The statue was designed and made by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, a French sculptor. The main idea is to make a gift to America on the centenary of the Declaration of Independence.

The widow Isabella Boyer posed for the statue. An interesting fact is that it was the wife of Singer, the American creator of the famous brand of sewing machines. This lady was not the last person in the capital and at the same time a beautiful woman.

An interesting fact - the Statue of Liberty was originally planned to be placed not in New York, but in Port Said - in Egypt. But the Egyptian authorities considered this project too expensive. Therefore, it was decided to transfer the building to the USA, where it will rise on the island of the New York metropolis.

Design and preparation for construction

The authorities of the States undertook to build a pedestal, and in Paris they made the statue itself. The French undertook to install it on the spot.

Top view of Liberty Article, New York, USA (Phil Dolby / flickr.com)

In order to collect the necessary amount for the implementation of the project, special measures were taken in both states. In France, a certain amount of money was raised thanks to lotteries, entertainment events, and donations from citizens. In America, theatrical performances, exhibitions of artists, fights in the ring and auctions were held to collect the required amount.

In France, the author of the construction, Bartholdi, needed a technically educated person to construct the statue. Another interesting fact is that this person was destined to become the architect Gustave Eiffel, whose most famous work in the future was the Eiffel Tower. He needed to design a steel support for the structure and a frame to support the tall statue in an upright position.

For a statue of great height, a huge amount of copper was needed. There are various interesting versions about the place of its extraction. For example, in Russia, in Nizhny Tagil. But according to the results of the study, it turned out that the copper was from Norway. The concrete base on which the Statue of Liberty stands required a large amount of cement. The German company for the production of concrete undertook to deliver it.

The formation of the amount needed for the construction was not fast enough. Joseph Pulitzer even urged American citizens to support the construction. His speeches significantly influenced the speed of the implementation of the plan. The pedestal was designed by an architect named Richard Morris Hunt.

Erection of the Statue of Liberty

The construction of the massive foundation near Manhattan in New York began on August 5, 1885. They built it in a little less than 9 months, and the work ended on April 22, 1886. Steel lintels are inserted inside the stone pedestal. The metal beams connected to them are directed upwards to go into the Eiffel frame inside the structure itself.

France made its gift in the summer. The length of the entire structure turned out to be almost 34 meters. For transportation, it was dismantled into 350 fragments, which were distributed among many boxes. They were transported to the United States on the Ysere ship. After 11 months, the Statue of Liberty appeared near New York, where it was erected in 4 months of work.

Officially, the Statue of Liberty was opened in 1886 in New York. The ceremony was attended by Grover Cleveland, then ruling in the United States, and more than a thousand residents and guests of the city.

History of the Statue of Liberty in the United States of America

The Statue of Liberty near New York City sits on its massive granite base inside Fort Wood, built for defensive purposes in the early 19th century. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the lighthouse service was responsible for the operation of the facility. After this role was taken over by the military in the United States.

On October 15, by decree of the US government, Fort Wood, in combination with the Statue of Liberty, acquired the status of a monument to the American nation in the United States.

"a symbol of New York and the USA" Jon Dawson / flickr.com

In 1933, the US National Park Service became responsible for the Statue of Liberty. In 1937, the size of the monument grew and began to coincide with the outline of Bedloe. In 1956, the name of the island changed, it acquired a new name - Liberty Island.

In 82 of the last century, under the influence of the head of the country, Reagan, a project was created to restore the Statue of Liberty. As a result, an amount of 87 million dollars was collected. In 1984, restoration work began, during which the old torch was replaced with a modern one with gold coating. Another interesting fact is that 24-carat gold was used for coating. In 1986, the renovated Statue of Liberty welcomed everyone to visit it on the occasion of the anniversary.

In early September 2001, due to the tragedy in the Twin Towers, the island, along with the Statue of Liberty, became inaccessible to those wishing to visit it. And only in 2004, the Statue of Liberty was again open to the public, but access to the top was still closed.

Since July 4, 2009, by order of US President Obama, it has become possible to visit the top of the Statue of Liberty. In 2011, elevators with stairs were updated in honor of the next anniversary. In addition, for the convenience of visitors, an escalator was installed here. In 2012, the Statue of Liberty became fully accessible to New Yorkers and visitors to the United States.

The Statue of Liberty is one of the symbols of America and New York. It has been attracting tourists for many years and is a cult place among Americans.

The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island. Liberty Island ), about 3 km southwest of the southern tip of Manhattan, in New Jersey. Before the city, the island was called "Bedloe's Island" (eng. Bedloe's Island ), although the people called it the "Island of Freedom" since the beginning of the 20th century.

Statue of Liberty (view from the pedestal)

The goddess of freedom holds a torch in her right hand and a tablet in her left. The inscription on the tablet reads "eng. JULY IV MDCCLXXVI” (written in Roman numerals the date “July 4, 1776”), this date is the day the United States Declaration of Independence was adopted. With one foot, "Freedom" stands on broken chains.

Visitors walk 356 steps to the crown of the Statue of Liberty or 192 steps to the top of the pedestal. There are 25 windows in the crown, which symbolize earthly gems and heavenly rays that illuminate the world. The seven rays on the crown of the statue symbolize the seven seas and seven continents (the western geographical tradition has exactly seven continents).

The total weight of the copper used to cast the statue is 31 tons, while the total weight of its steel structure is 125 tons. The total weight of the concrete base is 27 thousand tons. The thickness of the copper coating of the statue is 2.57 mm.

The height from the ground to the tip of the torch is 93 meters, including the base and pedestal. The height of the statue itself, from the top of the pedestal to the torch, is 46 meters.

The statue was built from thin sheets of copper minted in wooden moulds. The formed sheets were then mounted on a steel frame.

Usually the statue is open to visitors, usually arriving by ferry. The crown, which can be reached by stairs, offers extensive views of New York Harbor. The museum, located in the pedestal (and accessible by elevator), houses an exhibition of the statue's history.

New Colossus

Plate "New Colossus"

Inside the statue's crown

Tokyo

The Statue of Liberty is installed in Tokyo on the island of Odaiba.

Las Vegas

Uzhgorod

The smallest statue of Liberty in the world, the author of which is the sculptor Mikhail Kolodko and the architect Alexander Bezik, is located in the city of Uzhgorod on the parapet of the Pedestrian Bridge. The 30-cm sculpture, created on the initiative of the head of the tourism department of the Uzhgorod National University Fyodor Shandor, was cast in bronze in Budapest, weighs 4 kg and is a real lighthouse on the non-navigable Uzh River, where the Uzhgorod regatta is held annually. The sculptural woman symbolizes the love of Transcarpathians for everything unique and original.

Dnepropetrovsk

May 18, 2012 in Dnepropetrovsk, in the cafe "Melrose" on Geroev Ave, the statue of Liberty was installed, the height of the sculpture is 2.65 m, the height of the pedestal is 1.35 m, the sculptor is Semenova S.S.

Moscow

Monument to the Soviet Constitution(Obelisk and Statue of Liberty) on Soviet (Tverskaya) Square in Moscow. 1918-1919 (not preserved).

In the autumn of 1918, a 26-meter triangular obelisk appeared on Sovetskaya Square in honor of the Soviet constitution. The monument was supplemented in June 1919 with the Statue of Liberty by Nikolai Andreev. The monument fell in love with Muscovites.

The monument was not destined to stand for long. By the end of the 1930s, it needed restoration, as it was made hastily, from short-lived, low-quality materials: the obelisk was made of brick and plastered “under granite”, and the statue was cast from concrete. But the matter did not come to restoration: shortly before the Great Patriotic War, on April 22, 1941, the dilapidated monument was destroyed. The head of the Statue of Liberty is now kept in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Statue of Liberty in popular culture

In video games

The video game Grand Theft Auto IV features a parody of the statue. The parody statue is called the Statue of Happiness. On the upper floors there is a door through which you can enter and then climb a long staircase. There is a beating heart suspended on chains (the heart of the city). If you shoot him, he will bleed. Instead of a torch, the statue has a cup of coffee
In the Civilization series of games, the Statue of Liberty is one of the wonders of the world.
In the Red Alert series of video games, the Statue of Liberty is repeatedly destroyed. Its destruction is part of the game and cutscenes.
Also, the Statue of Liberty can be seen in the video games of the Deus Ex series. In the first part, the statue was destroyed by the conspirators before the start of the game, and the first level of the game takes place on the territory of the Island of Freedom, in the second part it is restored in the form of a hologram by Helios-JCDENTON.
In the Kasumi - Stolen Memory add-on for the video game Mass Effect 2, the head of the Statue of Liberty, which was destroyed by terrorists in 2096, can be found in Donovan Hawk's underground vault.
In the computer game Rise Of Nations: Thrones and Patriots, the Statue of Liberty is one of the wonders of the world.
In the video game World in Conflict, there is a mission in which the Statue of Liberty must be recaptured or a bomb will be dropped on it.
In the computer game Crysis 2, the Statue of Liberty is destroyed by an alien attack. Its separate fragments - the right hand with a torch and the head are the scenery of some cards.
In the video game Twisted metal 2 on the New York map, the Statue of Liberty can be shot down, causing it to crumble, leaving a woman in a bikini in its place.
In the game Prototype 2, from some skyscrapers in the Yellow Zone, you can see the island in the fog along with the statue. However, the character cannot get to the island, because the character jumps out of the water towards the mainland or a large island if he gets into the water, and there are no objects closest to the island.

To the cinema

"Ghostbusters 2" - in the film, the main characters revive the Statue of Liberty and use it in the fight against Evil.
In Alfred Hitchcock's film "Saboteur" the main character Barry Kane, being in the hand of a statue holding a torch, tries to hold the Nazi spy Fry by the sleeve. In reality, the actor Norman Lloyd was filmed in the studio, lying on a special black saddle on a black floor, and the camera moved 12 meters away from him. During editing, a fragment filmed on the Statue of Liberty was superimposed on a black background, and it turned out that the actor was falling down.
"National Treasure: Book of Secrets" - on the Parisian statue of liberty is one of the keys that helps the heroes of the film find treasures.
In the science fiction film "Monstro", the heroes, running out into the streets to find out what is happening, see the head of the Statue of Liberty rolling through the streets of Manhattan. And on the promotional poster for the film, the statue itself is depicted without a head. Only the torch lonely sticks out over the wreckage.
"X-Men" - Magneto installs his miracle machine on the torch of the Statue of Liberty to turn all people into mutants.
In the film The Day After Tomorrow by Roland Emmerich, the statue is first covered by a tsunami, and then a sharp cold snap leads to icing of the statue and the whole of New York.
A giant wave also covers the Statue of Liberty in the movie "Collision with the Abyss". Further, the severed head of the statue can be seen floating underwater between the skyscrapers of New York.
In the film Planet of the Apes (1968), the protagonist George Taylor, having discovered the half-buried Statue of Liberty on the ocean shore, realizes with despair that he is on planet Earth.
In the movie "People in Black 2" on the Statue of Liberty is a memory erasure device designed for the entire territory of New York.
In the movie "Quick Changes" when the characters get lost in one of the districts of New York, the main character desperately utters the phrase: "Well, at least see something familiar." At the same time, the camera rises above low buildings and shows a panorama of the bay, where the Statue of Liberty stands in the foreground.
In the cartoon "Union of Beasts", released in 2010, the Statue of Liberty is shown. Monkeys climb on her crown.
In the film Independence Day by Roland Emmerich, the Statue of Liberty is shown destroyed after the destruction of New York. Before that, a screensaver appears, where it says: July 3rd.
The disaster television movie Disaster Day 2 shows how the Statue of Liberty is first covered by a tsunami, then you can see how the Statue is blown away by a hurricane.
The movie "Artificial Mind" shows what the Statue of Liberty looks like - in a dilapidated and flooded New York, only the torch of the statue sticks out above the surface.
A copy of the Statue of Liberty in Tokyo can be seen in the anime Tokyo Magnitude 8.0: they showed how birds take off next to the statue right before the earthquake.
In the documentary series "Life after people" you can see how the Statue will look like 300 years after the disappearance of people. Another documentary on the same subject, Earth: Life Without Humans (Aftermath: Population Zero), also features the Statue of Liberty.
Disaster movie

It is a monument towering over the bay of New York. Residents of the country consider it not only a sign of the independence of their state, but also in some way an icon of democracy. However, not everyone remembers who gave America the Statue of Liberty and what mythological character it represents.

A giant sculpture of the ancient Roman goddess Libertas was installed on an island in New York Bay after a hundred years of independent existence of the United States. The one who gave America the Statue of Liberty was a long-time ally of the rebellious British colony, which became the world's first state with a democratic form of government.

Friendship between France and the USA

The stubborn unwillingness of the English king to allow the inhabitants of overseas territories to represent their interests in the parliament of the metropolis led to a revolution and an armed struggle for independence. Catholic France and Protestant Britain were rivals on both the European and American continents. The appeal to Paris for help was a completely logical step on the part of the rebellious colonies. At first, France supported the American revolutionary army secretly, and then openly entered into an official alliance with the United States. It became the first state to establish diplomatic relations with the newly independent colonies.

Given the long history of friendship, it's not hard to guess which country gave the Statue of Liberty to America. Over the next century, major upheavals took place in the United States: the abolition of slavery and a bloody civil war between the North and the South. The young state successfully withstood the test. It was the French people who gave America the Statue of Liberty in honor of the centenary of independence.

The birth of an idea

The plan to create a grandiose monument appeared in 1865. Among those who gave America the Statue of Liberty was the French writer and politician Edouard de Laboulet. He was the author of the idea of creating a monument symbolizing the independence of the United States and friendship between the two countries. Edouard de Laboulet was a fiery ideologue of democracy and considered the North American state a successful example of its embodiment. During the Civil War, he wholeheartedly supported the supporters of the abolition of slavery.

Design

The famous sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi took up the idea. First of all, he visited the United States in order to determine the location of the statue. Bartholdi's attention was drawn to Bedloe Island, located in New York Bay. This place fell into the field of view of all ships arriving on the American continent. The only drawback of the island was the strong winds characteristic of the Atlantic coast. When installing the sculpture, it was necessary to take into account this feature. The US Congress agreed with Bartholdi's proposal and officially approved the site for the erection of the monument.

The legendary French architect and engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the author of the world-famous Eiffel Tower in Paris, took part in the work on the creation of the statue. To implement a grandiose project, a specialist in the construction of durable and reliable high-rise structures was required. Eiffel created a powerful steel frame, thanks to which the sculpture is able to withstand the Atlantic hurricane winds.

Fundraising

From a financial point of view, the question of which country gave the Statue of Liberty to America does not have a clear answer. From the very beginning, a decision was made on joint investments. In France, in the process of a large-scale fundraising campaign, in which many newspapers took part, they quickly managed to get the amount needed to create a sculpture of the goddess Libertas. The United States was given the task of funding the construction of the pedestal.

A large sum of money for this project was donated by the famous American newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer, who through his publications urged others to follow his example.

During the fundraising campaigns, the official name of the giant monument was announced - "Liberty Illuminating the World".

Manufacturing process

In accordance with Bartholdi's layout, the sculpture was cast in copper in France. Residents of the country that gave America the Statue of Liberty got the opportunity to admire it in Paris for three months. Then the monument was taken apart and sent by ship to the United States. The height of the statue is 46 meters, weight - more than 150 tons. It is a figure of a woman with a crown on her head, holding a torch in her right hand, and a tablet with the date of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence written in Roman numerals in her left hand.

The sculpture was brought to New York in June 1885. The French gift was dedicated not only to the centenary of the American Revolution, but also to the World Exhibition of Arts and Industrial Products held in Philadelphia. In 1876, Bartholdi was already showing visitors to this international exhibition a gigantic sculpture hand holding a torch. Almost ten years later, all parts of the monument were reunited forever.

Pedestal

The French ship that delivered the sculpture was enthusiastically greeted by thousands of New Yorkers. This moment has gone down in history as a reminder of who gave the United States of America the Statue of Liberty. Due to funding issues, the pedestal on Bedloe Island was not yet ready. The arrival of the statue spurred the enthusiasm of the Americans, and the flow of donations increased significantly. The pedestal was designed by renowned architect Richard Morris Hunt. The foundation of the sculpture was made of concrete, its height is 47 meters, the total weight is 27 thousand tons. The work on the pedestal was completed in April 1886. It took another four months to assemble the parts of the monument on the foundation, which was the largest concrete structure in the world at that time.

Opening

The solemn ceremony took place on October 28, 1886. The then President of the United States, Grover Cleveland, delivered a speech to a crowd of thousands of spectators. It is worth noting that the one who gave America the famous Statue of Liberty for the centenary of independence was ten years late. However, this fact did not lessen the gratitude of the people of the United States towards France. The dream of the writer Edouard de Laboulet, the original author of the idea, has become a reality. The Statue of Liberty has become the most important symbol of America and a sign of friendship between the two states, which later fought on the same side in world wars.

(Statue of Liberty, full name - Freedom, illuminating the world) is one of the most famous sculptures in the USA and in the world, often called the "symbol of New York and the USA", "the symbol of freedom and democracy", "Lady Liberty". This is a gift from French citizens for the centenary of the American Revolution.

The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island, about 3 km southwest of the southern tip of Manhattan, one of the boroughs of New York. Until 1956, the island was called "Bedloe's Island", although it has been popularly called "Liberty Island" since the beginning of the 20th century.

The goddess of freedom holds a torch in her right hand and a tablet in her left. The inscription on the tablet reads "JULY IV MDCCLXXVI" ("July 4, 1776"), the date the Declaration of Independence was signed. With one foot, "Freedom" stands on broken chains.

Visitors walk 354 steps to the crown of the Statue of Liberty or 192 steps to the top of the pedestal. There are 25 windows in the crown, which symbolize earthly gems and heavenly rays that illuminate the world. The seven rays on the crown of the statue symbolize the seven seas and seven continents (the western geographical tradition has exactly seven continents).

The total weight of the copper used to cast the statue is 31 tons, while the total weight of its steel structure is 125 tons. The total weight of the cement base is 27,000 tons. The thickness of the copper coating of the statue is 2.37 mm.

The height from the ground to the tip of the torch is 93 meters, including the base and pedestal. The height of the statue itself, from the top of the pedestal to the torch, is 46 meters.

The statue was built from thin sheets of copper minted in wooden moulds. The formed sheets were then mounted on a steel frame.

New Colossus

In 1883, American poet Emma Lazarus wrote The New Colossus, a sonnet dedicated to the Statue of Liberty. 20 years later, in 1903, it was engraved on a bronze plate and affixed to the wall in the museum, located on the pedestal of the statue. The famous last lines of "Freedom" in the Russian translation of V. Lazarus sound like this:

“To you, ancient lands,” she cries, silent
Lips not parted - to live in empty luxury,
And give me from the bottomless depths
Your outcasts, your downtrodden people,
Send me the outcasts, the homeless,
I’ll light a golden candle for them at the door!”

Creation of the Statue of Liberty

The creation of the statue was entrusted to the French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. It was conceived as a gift for the centenary of the Declaration of Independence in 1876. According to one version, Bartholdi even had a French model: the beautiful, recently widowed Isabella Boyer, wife of Issac Singer, a creator and entrepreneur in the field of sewing machines. “She was freed from the awkward presence of her husband, who left her with only the most desirable attributes in society: a fortune and children. From the very beginning of her career in Paris, she was a public figure. As the beautiful French widow of an American entrepreneur, she proved to be a suitable model for Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty."

By mutual agreement, America was to build a pedestal, and France was to create a statue and install it in the United States. However, the lack of money was felt on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In France, charitable donations, along with various entertainment events and a lottery, raised 2.25 million francs. In the United States, theatrical performances, art exhibitions, auctions, and boxing fights were held to raise funds.

Meanwhile, in France, Bartholdi needed the help of an engineer to resolve structural issues related to the construction of such a giant copper sculpture. Gustave Eiffel (the future creator of the Eiffel Tower) was commissioned to design a massive steel support and an intermediate support frame that would allow the statue's copper shell to move freely while maintaining an upright position. Eiffel handed over the detailed designs to his assistant, an experienced structural engineer, Maurice Koechlin. Interestingly, the copper for the statue is of Russian origin.

The site for the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, approved by an Act of Congress in 1877, was chosen by General William Sherman, taking into account the wishes of Bartholdy himself, on Bedloe Island, where a star-shaped fort had stood since the beginning of the 19th century.

Fundraising for the pedestal progressed slowly, and Joseph Pulitzer (of Pulitzer Prize fame) issued an appeal in his World newspaper to support fundraising for the project's fund.

By August 1885, funding for the pedestal, designed by the American architect Richard Morris Hunt, was completed, with the first stone laid on 5 August. Construction was completed on April 22, 1886. Built into the massive stonework of the pedestal are two square lintels of steel bars; they are connected by steel anchor beams that go up to become part of the Eiffel frame of the statue itself. Thus the statue and the pedestal are one.

The statue was completed by the French in July 1884 and delivered to New York Harbor on June 17, 1885 aboard the French frigate Ysere. For transportation, the statue was disassembled into 350 parts and packed in 214 boxes. (Her right arm, holding a torch, had already been on display at the Philadelphia World's Fair in 1876 and then at Madison Square in New York.) The statue was assembled on its new base in four months. The grand opening of the Statue of Liberty, which was addressed by US President Grover Cleveland, took place on October 28, 1886 in the presence of thousands of spectators. As a French gift for the centenary of the American Revolution, it was ten years too late.

Statue like a lighthouse

From the day of its discovery, the statue served as a navigational landmark and was used as a lighthouse. Three caretakers took turns keeping the fire in her torch for 16 years.

Statue as a cultural monument

History of the Statue of Liberty and the island on which it stands is a story of change. The statue was placed on a granite pedestal inside Fort Wood, built for the War of 1812, whose walls are laid out in the shape of a star. The US Lighthouse Service was responsible for maintaining the statue until 1901. After 1901, this mission was assigned to the War Department. By presidential decree of October 15, 1924, Fort Wood (and the statue on its grounds) was declared a national monument, the boundaries of which coincided with those of the fort.

On October 28, 1936, on the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of the statue, US President Franklin Roosevelt said: “Liberty and peace are living things. In order for them to continue to exist, each generation must protect them and put new life into them.

In 1933, maintenance of the national monument was transferred to the National Park Service. On September 7, 1937, the area of the national monument was enlarged to cover the entirety of Bedloe Island, which was renamed Liberty Island in 1956. On May 11, 1965, Ellis Island was also turned over to the National Park Service and became part of the Statue of Liberty National Memorial. In May 1982, President Ronald Reagan commissioned Lee Iacocca to lead a private sector drive to restore the Statue of Liberty. The restoration raised $87 million through a partnership between the National Park Service and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Corporation, the most successful public-private collaboration in American history. In 1984, at the start of restoration work, the Statue of Liberty was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. On July 5, 1986, the restored Statue of Liberty was re-opened to the public during the Liberty Weekend dedicated to its centenary.

Statue and security

The statue and the island were closed from September 11, 2001 to August 3, 2004 due to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. On August 4, 2004, the monument was opened, but the statue itself, including the crown, remains closed. However, in May 2009, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the statue would be reopened for tours effective July 4, 2009.

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