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How Enormous Is the Statue of Liberty?

Until you see her up close, you don’t realize how massive Lady Liberty really is. America’s symbol of freedom – a monument created by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, shipped to the U.S., and unveiled in 1886 – stands resolutely on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. She weighs 204 metric tons, but her copper skin is very thin, only about 1/16th of an inch.

One of Lady Liberty's most impressive measurements is her footwear. She’s anchored to the ground on 25-foot (7.6-m) sandals, which makes her shoe size a whopping 879.

Sizing up the Statue of Liberty:

  • Lady Liberty is a big girl, to be sure. She stands 111 feet (34 m) tall, and reaches 305 feet (93 meters) if you add in the height of her pedestal and torch – equivalent to a 22-story building.

  • The statue arrived from France in 350 pieces, packed into 214 crates aboard an ocean liner. When first assembled, Lady Liberty looked like a shiny penny. It took 20 years for her to acquire a greenish-blue patina.

  • It’s said that Bartholdi modeled the statue’s face after his own mother, Charlotte. Bartholdi’s wife posed for the arms and torso.

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    • The Statue of Liberty’s sandals are 25 feet (7.6 m) long, meaning that her shoe size is a women’s 879.
      By: vlad_g
      The Statue of Liberty’s sandals are 25 feet (7.6 m) long, meaning that her shoe size is a women’s 879.