Obelisk in New York Central Park
Travel November 16th, 2009New York City is full of amazing cultural elements as well as social landmarks and national icons. There is always something incredible to do and see while visiting the city and while many people consider Central Park to be a place to get away from it all, which it can be, and to experience some relaxation while in the city, it is also full of many interesting attractions and cultural elements. From the Angle of the Waters sculpture in Bethesda Terrace to the Central Park Zoo and Wildlife Center, this lush paradise in the middle of Manhattan could account for an entire tour trip itself.
The obelisk in the park is also referred to as Cleopatra’s Needle and is seventy-one feet high. It weighs over 244 tons and is one of the more interesting intriguing of the park. It is located in Greywacke Knoll directly behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is situated in what is now a rather secluded bower. The tower is the oldest man made object in the park and dates back to around 1500 BC. Sometime around 12 BC Augustus Caesar had the obelisk moved to Alexandria. By this time the lower supports of the corner stones had been broken off and Caesar had them replaced by the bronze sea crab supports. It remained in Alexandria until 1879 when it was relocated to the United States. It is unsure now why it was given to this country but it is accepted that this was either a gift from the Khedive of Egypt or that it was given in good faith as a measure of establishing an economic relationship between the two countries.
While this and other landmarks that are found in the park are extremely popular attractions for the tourists staying in a luxury or New York Cheap hotel, an interesting thing to consider is the amount of effort and work that was necessary in getting the obelisk to this country. It is difficult for us to imagine the strength and work that went into taking down the monument and getting it into the ship and sailing it to this country. Once it was here, the trip up the Hudson to the park alone took over four months. And of course there was then the effort needed to get the obelisk to stand upright again.
Related posts:
