Do you know where she is?
From 1892 to 1954, when Ellis Island served as the main gateway to the United States, migrants arriving on the other side of the Atlantic were greeted by a colossal neoclassical statue representing what they all wanted: freedom.
“Then, suddenly, we heard a great commotion and arrived in
America,” recalls an immigrant. “And everyone started yelling that he saw” The Lady “, the Statue of Liberty,” he adds.
“The Lady” is a 46-meter high copper statue – a gift from France to the United States in 1886. It was designed by the French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and built by Gustave Eiffel, who also erected the Eiffel Tower in Paris, a year later.
For years, the Statue of Liberty was considered the highest image in the Americas. But in 1983, the Spanish sculptor Manuel de la Fuente raised a 46-meter statue of the Virgin Mary: the Virgin of Peace, in the state of Trujillo (western Venezuela).
The imposing image was built with concrete and weighs 1200 tons. It is a few centimeters higher than the Statue of Liberty (the Virgin of Peace is 46.72 meters, while Liberty is 46.05) and a few meters larger than the Rio de Janeiro Cristo Redentor (which is 38 meters high, included the base).
The image of the Virgin of Peace was built at the request of former Venezuelan President Herrera Campins on a hill in 1448, where – they say – the Virgin appeared in 1570. According to reports, a young woman walked through the streets of the village of Carmona to buy candles. A group of men approached her and asked, “Why are you alone?” The girl then replied: “I am not alone; I am with God, the sun and the stars. ” The men followed her as she went to hide behind some stones and became acquainted with her identity.
Similar to the Statue of Liberty, the Virgin of Peace can be visited from within. There are five enclosed balconies that provide a spectacular view of the tropical forest that surrounds it.
The Virgin of Peace was inspired by Our Lady of Peace, who is the spiritual patron of Trujillo since 1568 and the local diocese (since 1960). She holds a white dove in her right hand, which is the symbol of peace in the world.
The image also owns the record of the highest representation of the Virgin Mary on the planet. However, despite its colossal size and strong symbolism, it does not attract many visitors like the other tourist places in the country.
