The statue was a gift from
the French government for the 100th birthday of America's Independence.
It was designed by a young French sculptor, Frederic-Auguste
Bartholdi, who was striving to build a statue like the great
Colossus that once stood at the Greek island Rhodos.
The statue's face was modeled after his mother's and the story
goes that the body was modeled after a prostitute. The steel
framework was made by Gustave Eiffel, who also built the
Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was constructed in France and sent
to the USA in 214 pieces. The Statue of Liberty is 46,5
meters high and together with the pedestal it reaches 93
meters. It used to be possible to take the staircase inside
the statue and walk all the way up the 354 steps to the
head from where you have a nice view on New York City, but
for security reasons it was not allowed anymore for some
time after sept 11.
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