Statue of Liberty, National monument on Liberty Island, New York Harbor, United States.
The Statue of Liberty is a 46-meter (151-foot) copper and steel figure on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, depicting a robed woman raising a torch in her right hand while holding a tablet inscribed July 4, 1776 in her left. Her crown has seven points representing continents and oceans, while broken chains at the base symbolize liberation from oppression.
French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed the figure in the late 19th century as a gift marking the centennial of American independence. The 350 individual pieces were shipped from France and assembled in 1886 on Bedloe's Island, with Gustave Eiffel engineering the supporting iron framework for the copper sheets.
For many visitors from around the world, the figure today symbolizes personal freedom, and they come to connect with American immigration stories. People often leave flowers or small mementos at the base, and naturalization ceremonies take place regularly on the island to mark the start of new lives.
Access to the island requires taking a ferry from Battery Park in Manhattan or Liberty State Park in New Jersey. If you wish to climb to the crown, book tickets online well in advance and prepare for a 377-step ascent, while the museum in the base offers information on construction and design and audio guides are available in multiple languages.
The copper skin is only as thick as two pennies stacked together and changed color over roughly three decades through natural oxidation from brown to green. This green patina now protects the underlying metal from further corrosion and has become the defining feature of the figure.
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