New Statue of Liberty torch webcam celebrates landmark's 125th anniversary

The Statue of Liberty celebrated its 125th birthday on 28 October, 2011. Photo: PA

Thousands of tourists have visited the Statue of Liberty and taken on the staircase challenge to soak up amazing views from her crown.

But you won't have seen the vista from the New York landmark's torch, which she proudly holds aloft as a shining beacon of hope and a symbol for the freedom of the American way of life.

Because the torch platform has been closed to the public for almost 100 years since 1916 - until now (kind of).

The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Foundation has launched four new webcams offering views over the Ellis and Governors islands, Liberty Island and the Freedom Tower to celebrate its 125th birthday.

The Statue of Liberty, officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World, was dedicated on October 28, 1886 and is a monument commemorating the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, given to the United States by the people of France to represent the friendship between the two countries established during the American Revolution.

It represents a woman wearing a stola, a radiant crown and sandals, trampling a broken chain, carrying a torch in her raised right hand and a tabula ansata, where the date of the Declaration of Independence JULY IV MDCCLXXV is inscribed in her left arm.

Standing majestically on Liberty Island in New York Harbour, it welcomes visitors and returning Americans travelling by ship.

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi sculpted the statue and obtained a US patent for its structure. Maurice Koechlin - chief engineer of Gustave Eiffel's engineering company and designer of the Eiffel Tower - engineered the internal structure.

Check out the new webcams here.

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