Mini Statue of Liberty on loan from France joins original in New York Harbour
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In a bid to cement Franco-American friendship, a Paris museum is lending the replica, which stands 9.3 feet tall (2.83 meters), to the US for 10 years
A smaller replica of the Statue of Liberty travelled to Ellis Island from France on the back of a truck last week, retracing what its big sister did over a century ago. The statue was unveiled on Thursday.
In a bid to cement Franco-American friendship, a Paris museum is lending the replica, which stands 9.3 feet tall (2.83 meters), to the US for 10 years.
In addition to symbolising friendship between French and American citizens, as its name suggests it highlights the important message of liberty, freedom within our societies, and also globally, said ambassador Philippe Étienne of the French Embassy in Washington, DC.
The original Statue of Liberty, including the base, stands at a height of 305 feet (92.6 metres). France gifted it to the United States, and after assembling it and it was installed on Liberty Island in 1886, it has stood there ever since.
On July 1-6, the statue, which weighs 992 pounds (450 kilograms), will be displayed on Ellis Island. The sculpture was crafted from the original 1878 plaster model of the Statue of Liberty created by French sculptor by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi.
Washington, DC, is the final destination for the bronze statue.
Talking about the meeting between the two sister statues, Étienne says that the two countries found it to be very important especially on the upcoming occasions of Fourth of July, US Independence Day and 14th July, Bastille Day, the national day of France.
He added that once this "visit" was over, the statue will once again be inaugurated in Washington.
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