140 years ago, the cornerstone of the New York Statue of Liberty was laid

New York/Praha - The Statue of Liberty, located on Liberty Island at the entrance to New York Harbor, is the work of the French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. The more than 46-meter-tall lady with a spiked crown and torch has long held the position of perhaps the most recognizable symbol of the USA. The cornerstone of the statue's pedestal was laid on August 5, 1884.

Bartholdi created the statue with the help of the designer of one of Paris's landmarks, Gustave Eiffel. The monumental copper statue was a gift from the French citizens, expressing the friendship established between the two countries during the American Revolution. Bartholdi had already designed a similar statue for the Suez Canal, but Egypt did not accept his idea. In July 1884, one of the most famous statues was officially presented to the American ambassador in Paris as a gift from the French nation, and then it awaited its journey by ship across the Atlantic. The iron skeleton covered with 300 copper plates was disassembled and transported from France to New York in 214 shipping crates weighing a total of 225 tons.

In accordance with Bartholdi's plan, a small island at the mouth of the Hudson River was chosen for the placement of the monument. The Statue of Liberty enlightening the world, as its official name goes, was ceremoniously unveiled in October 1886 in the presence of its creator. The statue is now one of the most visited tourist attractions in the USA. However, in the early years, it also found a completely practical use. The five-meter torch of the statue, which, along with the 47-meter-tall pedestal, dominates Liberty Island, served as a lighthouse. Now a replica stands in place of the torch; the original has been stored in the pedestal of the famous monument since 1984 due to damage and was moved to a museum built on the island near the statue in 2018.