Statue of Liberty - one of the national symbols of the United States. Vysyaschayasya on an island in New York Harbor, it is familiar around the world.

The idea of ​​sculpture, a gift for the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence, which was executed in 1876, was born in France. The draft took sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, funds for the establishment of the monument were collected by subscription. To determine where to install the sculpture, Bartholdi traveled to the United States and selected Bedloe Island in New York Harbor - on it was located since 1811 Fort Wood, which became part of the foundation of the statue.

Bartholdi designed the monument in the form of a colossal figure of the Roman goddess of freedom with a torch in his right hand podyatoy. In his left hand he is holding the tablets of Liberty, which bears the date of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. His head is crowned with a tiara with seven rays - a symbol of the continents (western geographic tradition distinguishes between the seven continents of the Earth).

The construction of the statue height of 46 meters has become a complex engineering task. Bartholdi assembled piece of copper sheet thickness of 2, 57 mm minted using wooden forms. Weight Only these copper sheet was 31 tonnes. Located inside the shape steel support structure, developed with the assistance of Gustave Eiffel (author of the Eiffel Tower), yet weighs 125 tons.

Set a monument to the centennial of the Declaration of Independence did not have time - the seventies of the XIX century were marked by the economic depression in the United States, the construction of the podium (he was responsible for the American side) long. The situation changed for the better, when the journalist and publisher Joseph Pulitzer promised to publish the name of everyone who will donate any amount to the project. Money flowed, was among them, for example, one dollar donated by a group of children who refused to do a visit to the circus. The money came from lotteries, boxing bouts and donation boxes in bars.

June 17, 1885 the French frigate "Isere" delivered disassembled statue at the port of New York - he was met by hundreds of ships at sea. October 28, 1886 the statue was inaugurated - the event is marked by a grand parade through the city.

Sculpture quickly gained enormous popularity: it depicted on coins, posters, she became the heroine of many films. In 1956, the island Bedlow renamed Liberty Island. In 2011 began large-scale reconstruction of the monument, and a year later it was opened to the public, but the next day Hurricane Sandy struck a terrible blow on the island: wind storm destroyed the engineering systems, demolished sidewalks. On Independence Day 2013 (July 4), and a statue of the island was rediscovered.

Tourists arrive here by ferry. If you book tickets in advance, you can climb to the observation deck, located in the crown. There are stunning views of Manhattan and New York Harbor. On a bronze plate attached to the wall of the museum in the pedestal of the statue engraved with the words of the sonnet "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus poet:

"... And they gave me from the depths of the bottomless
  His rogue scored his people,
  Send me an outcast, homeless,
  I told them a candle beside the golden door! "
  (Translation by Vladimir Lazaris)