Yuri Chekalin
The Statue of Liberty was originally intended to go to Egypt.
It was created as a gift to commemorate the construction of the Suez Canal by the French.
However, the Egyptians refused the gift, and France decided to give the statue to America. In August 1875, the creation of the Franco-American Union was announced.
The organization’s statement said that the statue itself would be financed by France, and the pedestal would be financed by the United States.
The stone pedestal on which the statue stands on an island in New York Harbor was paid for by the Americans as part of a fundraising campaign organized by newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer.
Sculptor Frederic Bartholdi created the statue over the course of 15 years.
By 1885, the figure was ready, it was sawn into 350 pieces and sent by ship to America.
The resulting constructor took four months to assemble, while the pedestal was being prepared on Bedloe’s Island.
The installation of the statue on Bedloe’s Island (from the mid-20th century – Liberty Island) was completed in early autumn 1886, and the monument was unveiled on October 28.
Alexander Palladin
