Little-known interesting facts about the Statue of Liberty in America. The Statue of Liberty

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Official name this huge sculpture - Freedom, enlightening the world. We know it as the Statue of Liberty, the world-famous symbol of American values - freedom and democracy.

On this, perhaps, the knowledge of the majority about this attraction ends.

Here are collected 10 amazing facts which will take you closer to the most popular statue in the world.

10. "Black Tom".

On July 30, 1916, a major terrorist attack took place in New York. On the island of Black Tom Island, located near Liberty Island, thundered powerful explosions, as a result of which some parts of the Statue of Liberty were badly damaged.

The force of the explosions was equivalent to an earthquake of about 5.5 magnitude. In addition, the clock on the Jersey Journal building was damaged, and windows were blown out in lower Manhattan and Times Square. The culprits were German saboteurs.

Despite the fact that the United States remained neutral in the world conflict at that time, the state produced weapons that were sent to countries fighting against Germany.

On the night of the explosion, there were more than 1 million kg of black powder, TNT, fragments and dynamite on the island, ready to be shipped to England, France, Italy and Russia. After the explosions, the torch of the Statue of Liberty was closed to the public and remains closed to this day.

9. Human Statue of Liberty.

On the afternoon of August 22, 1918, 18,000 US Army soldiers gathered at Camp Dodge, forming the silhouette of the Statue of Liberty on the ground.

They were all in black uniforms, with the exception of those soldiers who formed the outline of the torch, left hand and the crown of the statue: these men put on white clothes.

Due to the huge crowd and the heat, 12 soldiers lost consciousness. The photo, taken to sell war bonds amid the ongoing world war, was never used.

8. Reproductions.

Two 9-meter copies of the Statue of Liberty are on top of the National Bank of Liberty in Buffalo (New York). Another 3-meter copy, holding the Bible, is located in California.

A similar 8-meter statue in Memphis has the Bible replaced with a cross. This sculpture is called the Statue of Liberty in Christ. In addition, there are many copies of the statue located outside the United States.

7. The torch burned.

The original torch of the Statue of Liberty was replaced between 1982 and 1986 when the statue was being refurbished. The original torch was damaged by corrosion caused by water and snow. The new torch was created by French artisans who used an embossing technique called "stamping".

This is the same method that was used to build the entire Statue of Liberty. In the new torch, the flame is covered with gold leaf, while the other parts are copper. The old torch can be seen at the Statue of Liberty Museum.

6. Initially, the sculpture was intended for Egypt.

In 1867, Bartholdi discussed the statue with the ruler of Egypt, Khedive Ismail Pasha. The sculpture was supposed to stand at the entrance to the Suez Canal and represent a farmer holding a torch.

The architect worked on the statue for two years, after which he proposed to the Khedive a version of a statue of a woman in a robe with a torch, which would serve as a lighthouse. Later, the ruler of Egypt refused Bartholdi's services because their cost was too high.

5. Goddess of democracy.

Chinese protests in 1989 were met with a brutal military rebuff and were completely suppressed. Then the defenders of democracy built a 10-meter sculpture, similar to the Statue of Liberty, and called it the "Goddess of Democracy."

The statue was created by students of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and consisted of foam, papier-mâché and plaster. The sculpture infuriated the Chinese government, who called it an abomination and issued the following statement: "This is China, not America!".

The statue greatly strengthened the position and mood of the protesters and was destroyed by the troops 5 days after creation.

4. Jokes from Wisconsin.

In 1978, pranksters Jim Mallon and Leon Varjan won elections for president and vice president of the University of Wisconsin Students' Union. One of the points of their "humorous" campaign program was the promise to move the Statue of Liberty to Wisconsin.

To fulfill the promise, the union ordered a model of the sculpture. They only made the head and arms, which were thrown into Lake Madison to give the impression that the rest of the statue was covered in water.

Some students were offended and wrote statements to the union demanding that they return 60 cents each. But this did not deter the jokers, who, by the way, were re-elected for another term.

3. Construction.

The idea to build the Statue of Liberty came from France. Bartholdi visited the US in 1871 and chose Bedloe Island as the site where it would be erected. It was decided that France would finance the creation of the statue, while the US would finance the construction of the pedestal.

The base was to be designed by the French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, but he died in 1879 and was replaced by Gustave Eiffel.

The statue's face is rumored to have been modeled after Bartholdi's mother. Shows and exhibitions were held in France to raise funds for the construction of the sculpture. The US raised the money through auctions and donations.

2. Ghost of Bedloe Island.

Captain William Kidd, a pirate hunter and possibly a pirate himself, is rumored to have hidden his treasure on Liberty Island, then called Bedloe.

In 1892, two soldiers began to look for this treasure. Shortly after midnight, the entire base was awakened by loud screams. One of the soldiers was found in a wild emotional overexcitation, the second was in a faint.

They said that when they found some kind of box, they saw a strange and terrible creature with black skin, horns, wings and a tail.

1. David Copperfield and the disappearing statue.

Illusionist David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear in front of a live audience in 1983. To do this, he needed two towers on the stage, an arch and a curtain that hid the sculpture from view.

When the curtains were closed, the stage on which the audience was located slowly turned around. By the time the curtains reopened, the statue was hidden from view behind one of the towers.

In addition, Copperfield created a ring of light around the Statue of Liberty and another one nearby. So when the stage moved, his assistants simply turned off the lights around the statue and turned on another ring. Bonus: It wasn't always green.

The Statue of Liberty or, as it is also called, Lady Liberty, has symbolized the spread of freedom and democracy for many years. A striking symbol of liberation is the trampling of broken fetters by the statue. Impressive structure located on the mainland North America in New York, invariably appears to the eyes of all its guests and gives the most unforgettable experience.

Creation of the Statue of Liberty

The monument went down in history as a gift to the United States from the French government. According to the official version, this event took place in honor of America's celebration of 100 years since independence, and also as a sign of friendship between the two states. The author of the project was the leader of the French anti-slavery movement Edouard Rene Lefebvre de Labuela.

Work on the creation of the statue began in 1875 in France and was completed in 1884. They were headed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, a talented French sculptor. It is this outstanding person For 10 years he created in his art studio the future symbol of freedom on a global scale.

The work was carried out in collaboration with the best minds France. Gustave Eiffel, developer of the creation project eiffel tower, took part in the creation of the design of the inner steel frame of the famous statue. The work was continued by one of his assistants, engineer Maurice Kehlin.

The solemn ceremony of presenting the French gift to American colleagues was scheduled for July 1876. An obstacle to the implementation of the plan was a banal lack of funds. US President Grover Cleveland was able to accept in a solemn ceremony a gift from the French government only 10 years later. The date of the ceremonial handover of the Statue was October 1886. Bedloe Island has been designated as the location for the historic ceremony. After 70 years, it received the name "Island of Freedom".

Description of the legendary landmark

The Statue of Liberty is on the list of the world's most famous masterpieces. Her right hand proudly raises a torch, while her left hand displays a tablet with inscriptions. The inscription indicates the date major event for all the American people - Independence Day of the United States of America.

The dimensions of Lady Liberty are impressive. Its height from the ground to the top of the torch is 93 meters. Head size - 5.26 meters, nose length - 1.37 m, eyes - 0.76 m, arms - 12.8 meters, the length of each hand is 5 m. The size of the plate is 7.19 m.

Curious what the Statue of Liberty is made of. It took at least 31 tons of copper to cast her body. The entire steel structure weighs in total about 125 tons.

The 25 view windows located in the crown are a symbol of the wealth of the country. And the rays coming out of it in the amount of 7 pieces are a symbol of the seven continents and seas. In addition to this, they symbolize the expansion of freedom in all directions.

Traditionally, the location of the monument is reached by ferry. Favorite place visiting is the crown. To enjoy the local landscapes and views of the New York coast from a height, you need to climb to a special platform inside it. To this end, visitors will have to overcome a large number of steps - 192 to the top of the pedestal, and then 356 already in the body itself.

As a reward for the most persistent visitors, extensive views of New York with its picturesque surroundings open up. No less interesting is the pedestal where the museum with historical expositions located in it is located.

Little known interesting facts about the Statue of Liberty

The period of creation and subsequent existence of the monument is filled interesting facts and stories. Some of them are not illuminated even when tourists visit New York City.

The first name of the Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty is the name by which the masterpiece is known throughout the world. It was originally known as the Liberty Enlightening the World"-" Freedom Illuminating the World ". At first, instead of it, it was planned to erect a monument in the form of a farmer with a torch in his hand. The place of establishment was to be the territory of Egypt at the entrance to the Suez Canal. The drastically changed plans of the Egyptian government prevented this.

The prototype of the face of the Statue of Liberty

The information is widespread that the face of the Statue of Liberty is nothing more than a fiction of the author. However, two versions of its origin are known. According to the first, the face of the famous model of French origin, Isabella Boyer, became the prototype of the face. According to another, Frederick Bartholdi immortalized the face of his own mother in the monument.

Metamorphoses with color

Immediately after creation, the statue was distinguished by a bright golden-orange color. In St. Petersburg, visitors to the Hermitage can see a painting depicting it in its original form. Today, the monument has acquired a green color. This is due to patination, a process in which the metal acquires a blue-green hue when interacting with air. This transformation of the American symbol lasted for 25 years, which is captured in numerous photos. The copper coating of the statue naturally oxidized, which can be seen today.

"Journeys" of the head of Lady Liberty

A little-known fact: before all the pieces of the French gift were collected in New York, the Statue of Liberty had to travel around the country disassembled for some time. Her head was exhibited in one of the Philadelphia museums in 1878. The French also decided to enjoy the unprecedented spectacle before she left for her destination. In the same year, the head was put on public display at one of the Paris exhibitions.

Former record holder

In the 21st century, there are buildings that surpass the symbol of America in height and heaviness. However, during the development of the Statue project, its concrete base was the largest and largest concrete structure in the world. Outstanding records soon ceased to be such, but the monument is still associated in the world consciousness with everything majestic and new.

Twins of the Statue of Liberty

Many copies of the American symbol have been created around the world, among which several dozen can be found in the United States itself. A couple of 9-meter copies can be seen in the vicinity of New York's National Liberty Bank. Another copy, reduced to 3 meters, holding the Bible, adorns the state of California.

The official twin copy of the monument appeared in the late 80s of the XX century. The Americans presented it to the French people as a token of friendship and gratitude. Today this gift can be seen in Paris on one of the islands of the Seine rivers. The copy is reduced, however, it is able to hit others with an 11-meter height.

Residents of Tokyo, Budapest, Lvov erected their own copies of the monument.

The authorship of a copy reduced to a minimum belongs to the inhabitants of western Ukraine - the sculptor Mikhail Kolodko and the architect Alexander Bezik. You can see this masterpiece of modern art in Uzhgorod, in Transcarpathia. The comic sculpture is made of bronze, is only 30 cm high and weighs about 4 kg. Today it symbolizes the desire of the local population for self-expression and is known as the smallest replica in the world.

Extreme "adventures" of the monument

The Statue of Liberty has gone through a lot in its lifetime. In July 1916, a brutal terrorist attack took place in America. On the island of Liberty located near the island of Black Tom Island, explosions were heard, comparable in strength to an earthquake of about 5.5 points. Their culprits were saboteurs from Germany. During these events, the monument received severe damage to some of its parts.

In 1983, in front of a large audience, illusionist David Copperfield conducted an unforgettable experiment in the disappearance of the Statue of Liberty. The original focus was a success. The huge statue really disappeared, and the stunned audience tried in vain to find a logical explanation for what they saw. In addition to performing miracles, Copperfield surprised with a ring of light around the Statue of Liberty and another next to it.

Today, the symbol of the United States still towers majestically in the sky over New York, retains its important global significance and is the pride of the American nation. For America itself and other states, it is associated with the spread of democratic values, freedom and independence throughout the world. Since 1984, the Statue has become part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The statue "Liberty Enlightening the World", commonly known as "Lady Liberty" or "Statue of Liberty", was built by Frenchman Frederick Auguste Bartholdi and donated by French citizens to Americans. She is a symbol of friendship, freedom and peace.

Short story Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty, rising 46 meters into the sky, is perhaps the most popular monument in the world. In 1924 it was declared a national monument. The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island (until 1956 Bedloe's Island), where it was inaugurated on October 28, 1886 by US President Grover Cleveland.

Liberty Island is located at the top of New York Bay, at the mouth of the Hudson River. Its area is about 10 acres.

Built by the Frenchman Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the statue "Liberty Enlightening the World" was presented by the French to the Americans in honor of the 100th anniversary of America's independence and as a sign of friendship between these countries.

Work on the statue began in France in 1875 and was completed in 1884. Before the statue was sent to New York in 1885, it had to be dismantled.

Facts about the Statue of Liberty

The real name of the statue of the Statue of Liberty is "Liberty Enlightening the World."

In addition to this name, the gentle nickname "Lady Liberty" stuck to her.

The height of the statue reaches 46 meters.

The statue was built from copper sheets mounted on a metal frame.

To create "Freedom Enlightening the World", 300 sheets of copper attached to each other were used, and it weighed 225 tons.

At the very beginning, the statue was not green, it turned green due to atmospheric conditions, the main of which is acid rain.

The statue represents an upright standing woman in flowing clothes, on her head is wearing a crown with seven teeth.

It is believed that the crown with seven teeth symbolizes the seven continents or the seven seas.

In her right hand, high above her head, Lady Liberty holds a torch, and in her left hand she presses a tablet to her body.

The inscription on the tablet reads: "JULY IV MDCCLXXVI", which means "July 4, 1776" - the date of the signing of the Treaty of Independence of the United States of America.

The exact height of the statue is 151 feet and one inch, but for convenience it is usually written "151 feet" or "152 feet", which is approximately 46 meters.

The pedestal of the statue (pedestal and base in the form of a star with 11 rays) is 154 feet (about 47 meters).

In 1984, the statue underwent a complete renovation process, and then by July 4, 1986, was re-installed on same place.

During the renovation, 1,350 heavily corroded iron slats were replaced with stainless steel slats.

The torch we see today is not the historic 1886 torch. It was replaced during the 1984-86 renovation as it was deemed inappropriate to restore it. The original torch was modified quite heavily in 1916. Today, this torch is displayed in a museum located inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.

A plaque in the statue's museum bears lines from Emma Lazarus's sonnet "The New Colossus":
"Keep, ancient countries, your legendary splendor,
And give me your tired, your poor ...
And give me from the bottomless depths
Your outcasts, your downtrodden people,
Send me the outcasts, the homeless,
I light a golden candle for them at the door ... "

Liberty Island is closer to New Jersey than it is to New York (but it is part of New York).

Liberty Island has a very colorful past, its owners were the British, the French, and the Americans. Today the island is owned by the federal government and administered by the National Park Service ( national park service).

The massive steel frame of the Statue of Liberty was designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Gustave Eiffel is the same architect who designed the world-famous Parisian Eiffel Tower (La Tour Eiffel).

The base of the pedestal is made in the form of a star with 11 rays.

With the image of the Statue of Liberty, the following coins were minted: November 11, 1922 - a coin in denomination of 15 cents; June 24, 1954 - a coin of 3 cents; April 9, 1954 - an 8 cent coin and June 11, 1961 - an 11 cent coin.

On a New York 25 cent coin minted in
2001, depicts the Statue of Liberty with the words "Gateway to Freedom".

Until 1956, Liberty Island was called Bedloe's.

The plinth for Lady Liberty was designed by Richard Morris Hunt.

On the second floor of the statue's plinth, the American Museum of Immigration was founded in 1972.

In order to get to the top of the statue, you need to climb the 354 steps of a spiral staircase (not open to the general public).

The crown of the statue can also be reached by an elevator (not open to the general public).

Since September 11, 2001, access to Liberty Island has been closed to the public, but in December of the same year it was reopened.

Visitors only have access to the museum and the 10-story pedestal.

AT given time inner part The statue remains closed to the public, but through the glass separator you can see the remarkable iron frame created by Gustave Eiffel.

Sometimes it seems to us that certain things have always existed. And we are surprised to learn that this is not the case. "The symbol of New York and the USA", "one of the most famous sculptures in the world", "the symbol of freedom and democracy", "Lady Liberty" - all sorts of epithets and names were invented for this statue in New York! Some are amazed at its size, others pay tribute to the idea embodied in the sculpture, others simply perceive it as one of the modern wonders of the world.

Each of the four million visitors who annually come to the small island in New York Harbor, where the monument is located, can form an opinion about the latter. And everyone will be right in their own way... The statue is truly grandiose: its height from the base to the tip of the torch is almost 47 meters, and together with a powerful granite pedestal - 93 meters. One nail on the hand of a woman personifying Freedom weighs one and a half kilograms. Under the wind, the statue sways slightly: the range of oscillation reaches 7.6 centimeters, and at the torch - even up to 12.7 centimeters! But rarely does anyone think about the fact that the creators of the statue were the French.

The grand opening of the sculpture took place on October 28, 1886. But she was born not simply and not soon. The idea of creating this symbol came from the French scientist, lawyer and supporter of the abolition of slavery Edouard René Lefebvre de Laboulaye back in the late 1860s. He proceeded from the fact that America and France are bound by old friendly ties. France provided moral and material support to the American struggle for independence - French General Lafayette even became national hero USA. Parisian liberals looked to the American constitution as a role model. Laboulaye also belonged to this circle. Gathering a group of intellectuals, he offered to give America a symbolic gift from the French people as a token of friendship...

Soon the idea of a giant sculpture came up. Laboulaye offered to become the author of the sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who already had a reputation as a creator of monumental monuments. There is evidence that Bartholdi, creating a statue for New York, which he called "Liberty, bringing light to the world", based on his early design for a giant sculpture intended for Egypt. The sculptor really visited there in the 1860s. Having met the builder of the Suez Canal, Ferdinand de Lesseps, Bartholdi suggested that the Egyptians create a huge sculpture with a lighthouse lamp in his hand for the opening of the water route between the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

The statue was to be called "Progress" or "Egypt Bringing Light to Asia". However, the ruler of Egypt, Ismail Pasha, did not accept this idea - apparently, for financial reasons ... The sculptor himself always denied the "Egyptian" origin of Freedom and insisted that the project intended for America was completely original. However, it is curious that it was Lesseps, who became famous after the opening of the Suez Canal, who headed the committee to create the "gift of France" to the United States ...

Isabella Boyer

There are many assumptions about who was the model of Freedom. Some, for example, believe that Bartholdi drew a sketch of the sculpture from his mother, Charlotte. According to one version, he even had an American model, Isaac Singer's recently widowed wife Isabella Boyer. The mystery has yet to be solved...

Laboulaye advised Bartholdi to go to America, to get acquainted with this country, to feel its spirit, to gain impressions. And the sculptor immediately found a place for the future monument - New York Harbor.

The complex inner frame of the statue was to be designed by Gustave Eiffel, who had already established himself as a specialist in the creation of original iron structures for railway bridges, the future author of the famous Parisian tower. Fundraising for the creation of a giant sculpture began in 1874. It is noteworthy that the composer Charles Gounod wrote a special cantata "Freedom" for the opening, as it would now be called, of the "advertising campaign". Starting in 1875, a team of twenty people worked in special workshops - seven days a week, ten hours a day ... The body was made of copper sheets, which were hand-shaped.

At first they planned to install a statue for the 100th anniversary of American independence, in 1876. But the work progressed very slowly. The creation of the statue was a joint Franco-American project, according to which the American side erected a pedestal, and the French made the statue and then assembled it in the USA. However, there was a shortage of funds on both sides Atlantic Ocean. In France, donations were raised to raise funds, lotteries and entertainment events were held.

In the United States, in turn, there were theatrical performances, art exhibitions and auctions to raise funds. Meanwhile, Bartholdi in France needed the help of an engineer in calculating the construction of a giant copper statue. Alexandre Gustav Eiffel, the creator of the Eiffel Tower, designed a strong iron support and frame that allowed the statue's copper shell to move freely while maintaining the balance of the statue itself.

Money for the pedestal was collected by August 1885, and its construction was completed by April 1886. Work on the statue was completed in France in July 1884, and in June 1885 it was delivered to New York harbor aboard the French frigate Ysere . The statue was transported from France to the United States disassembled - it was divided into 350 parts, packed in 214 boxes. The assembly of the statue on the pedestal took four months. On October 28, 1886, with a large crowd of people, the opening ceremony of the Statue of Liberty was held. She became a gift for the centenary, which was late for 10 years.

If the problems that arose in France with fundraising were successfully solved thanks to the lottery, then in the USA few people showed enthusiasm for erecting a pedestal ... Fundraising in America progressed with difficulty, and therefore Joseph Pulitzer (famous for the award of his name) provided the pages to his newspaper The World for articles in support of fundraising. In his newspaper, Pulitzer attacked both the rich, who were unwilling to finance the construction of the pedestal, and the middle class, who used to rely on the fact that wealthy compatriots will always find money for a good cause. Pulitzer's harsh criticism was successful and motivated Americans to donate. As a result of skillfully constructed propaganda, addressed to ordinary Americans and criticizing greedy moneybags, it was possible to collect donations in the amount of 100 thousand dollars (and at the same time significantly increase the circulation of the newspaper!).

Only a hand with a torch could be delivered to the international exhibition in Philadelphia, dedicated to the anniversary of US independence, and even then by the end of the exhibition. The delegation was then led by Bartholdi. Having traveled to the island of Bedloes Island in New York, he had chosen, the sculptor proposed that this piece of land be renamed Liberty Island. And so it happened 80 years later: in 1956, the island was named Liberty Island.

Now it was possible to start building the pedestal, the design of which was created by the American architect Richard Morris Hunt. The foundation stone was laid on August 5, 1884. And in Paris, sculpture has long "outgrown" the workshop and rose above the city. In June 1884, the construction of the statue was completed; on the fourth of July, at a solemn ceremony, she was "presented as a gift" to the representatives of America.

The following year, the statue, which weighed 225 tons, was dismantled and transported to the United States on the French frigate Isère. There, the sculpture was reassembled - on a pedestal in New York. Bartholdi, arriving at the ceremony in America, said simply: "The dream of my life has come true." At the unveiling of the statue on October 28, 1886, US President Cleveland declared: "We will not forget that freedom has settled here." At this time, Bartholdi was in the head of the colossus - he had to cut the rope so that the veil of the colors of the French flag would fall from the monument ...

Since then, the famous statue has stood on Liberty Island, formerly Bedloes Island, on the site of Fort Wood, which once protected New York Harbor. The tablet held by Liberty in her left hand is inscribed with the date July 4, 1776, the day the United States was declared independent.

And in 1903, another, smaller plaque was attached to the pedestal with Emma Lazarus' poem "The New Colossus", written in 1883, as part of a fundraising program for the construction of the pedestal. It is noteworthy that the poetess was not even able to attend the opening ceremony. Jeanne-Emilia, Bartholdi's wife, and Lesseps' eight-year-old daughter Totot were the only women allowed to attend the statue's unveiling ceremony. This is indeed a historical curiosity: the ideas of freedom and equality did not yet apply to the “weaker sex”! ..

Head of the Statue of Liberty at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1878

On October 15, 1924, the statue was declared a national monument, and after another 60 years, it was included in the List World Heritage UNESCO.

For more than a century of history, the statue has been repaired and improved several times. The last major work was completed in 1986. Then the statue was first illuminated with a laser. The image of the Statue of Liberty can be seen on the license plates of cars in the state of New York. But she became a symbol of all America. Back in the years of the First World War, her images, as the "female version" of Uncle Sam, began to appear on posters calling for military prowess.

From the day of its discovery, the statue served as a navigational landmark and was used as a lighthouse. Three keepers for 16 years in turn kept the fire in her torch, but this had a detrimental effect on the birds.

Until 1899, the Statue of Liberty was the most tall building New York. Gradually, it was much "outgrown" by the skyscrapers of Manhattan. However, up close, it still makes a majestic impression. And the flow of visitors to it is not interrupted - ferries go to the island one after another.

The story 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 were 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. 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 appointed Lee Iacocca to lead the private sector movement 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, the most successful public-private partnership in the world. American history. In 1984, at the beginning of work on its restoration, the Statue of Liberty was listed by the United Nations among the monuments of world importance. On July 5, 1986, the restored Statue of Liberty was re-opened to the public during the Liberty Weekend dedicated to its centenary.

Visitors walk 354 steps to the crown of the statue, or 192 steps to the top of the pedestal. There are 25 windows in the crown, which symbolize earthly gems and heavenly rays illuminating the world. The seven rays on the statue's crown symbolize the world's seven oceans and continents. The plaque held by the statue in its left hand reads (in Roman numerals): "July 4, 1776". The total weight of the copper used to cast the statue is 62 thousand pounds (31 tons), and its total weight steel structure- 250 thousand pounds (125 tons). The total weight of the cement base is 54 million pounds (27 thousand tons). The thickness of the copper covering of the statue is 3/32 inch or 2.37 mm.

Most copies of the Statue of Liberty are located in its homeland - in France. There are two of them in the center of Paris alone. One, measuring 46.50 meters, stands on Swan Island (Ile aux Cygnes). It was already a return gift from the United States to France. In addition to it, in the Luxembourg Gardens, there is actually a prototype of the Statue of Liberty, a smaller one. It was this version that was the model used by Bartholdi for the large version of the statue donated to the Americans. On the banks of the Seine, on the Alma bridge, there is also a copy of the torch from the Statue of Liberty, donated by the United States to France in 1986. Tourists sometimes mistakenly consider it a monument to Princess Diana, who died in a tunnel under the bridge in 1997.

On July 4, 2004, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the death of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, a reduced 12-meter copy of the famous Statue of Liberty was installed in his hometown of Colmar in eastern France (Alsace). It was created on the basis of a 128 cm model kept in the museum of the city of Colmar.

Today there are more than 200 copies of the Statue of Liberty - in 39 US states, in several current and former possessions of the States, including the Panama Canal Zone, Guam, and the Philippines ... In the Copenhagen quarter of Christiania - "the city of hippies", where anarchy reigns - also has its own statue of Liberty, or rather, a parody of it, ingeniously made from auxiliary materials, reminiscent of both the original and a huge scarecrow. Well, everyone has their own understanding of this very freedom...

And one more detail - this is a painting by the artist Jules Joseph Lefebvre "Truth"