Giuseppe Garibaldi, Bronze statue in Washington Square Park, Manhattan, United States.
The Giuseppe Garibaldi statue sits in Washington Square Park on a granite base, showing the Italian unification leader standing upright with a commanding presence facing east. This bronze monument stands about 10 feet (3 meters) tall and draws attention with its strong visual presence in the park.
The monument was unveiled in 1888 and created by sculptor Giovanni Turini, who had fought in Garibaldi's Fourth Regiment against Austria in 1866. It was relocated to its current location in the eastern section of the park in 1970 during a major promenade renovation.
The statue reflects the strong tie between Italian immigrants and New York City, supported by the Italian-American newspaper Il Progresso Italo-Americano. It stands as a tribute to Garibaldi's struggle for Italian unification and shows how deeply this history mattered to the Italian community in Manhattan.
The statue sits in the eastern area of Washington Square Park and is easy to reach on foot with open access from all sides of the park. Early morning or weekday visits tend to be less crowded and offer better opportunities to view it up close.
When the statue was moved in 1970, workers discovered a sealed glass vessel from the 1880s buried beneath it containing newspaper clippings about Garibaldi's death. This hidden time capsule was a message left by those who built the original monument.
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