statue of liberty
The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World, French: La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical statue on Liberty Island in New York City Harbor.
The statue, a gift to the United States from the people of France, is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue has become an iconic symbol of freedom and of the United States.
The statue was designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886. It stands 93 meters high and weighs 204 metric tonnes. Inside the statue is a staircase that allows visitors to climb from the pedestal all the way up to the crown above her head.
