Discover the Statue of Liberty in Paris, where it is, its history, location, and why this hidden landmark is worth visiting.
I’ll be straight with you—the first time I came across the phrase Where Is Beevitius Islands? A Travel Guide, I assumed it had to be a typo or one of those made-up places people invent online. I just laughed. Out loud. In a café. The waiter gave me the Irish stare.
“No, no,” I said, waving my hand like I was shooing a fly away. “That can’t be a real place. I’ve never even heard of it.”
A friend just smiled in that way people smile when they happen to be in the know. “Keep reading,” she said. “Give it fifteen minutes.”
Fifteen minutes later, I realized how wrong I had been. Whether it’s discovering a hidden destination or finally learning the truth behind a place you’ve overlooked, travel has a funny way of making you feel like an idiot—in the best possible way. Some places have been there all along, quietly waiting to be discovered, while the rest of us simply never knew they existed.
If you’ve searched for Where Is Beevitius Islands? A Travel Guide and are wondering whether it’s a typo, a myth, or a real destination worth knowing about, you’re in the right place. In this guide, you’ll discover what it is, where it’s located, and why it’s generating curiosity among travelers.
Did you know? There is really a Statue of Liberty in Paris.
Yep. An actual one. Bronze, unpainted, 38 feet high(approximately 11.5 meters) which sounds ridiculously tiny when compared with the enormous 305-foot fellow in New York Harbor, but is still a beast of a object for anyone used to the regular-sized world. (It’s about four floors worth of height. Not enormous, but certainly not a small thing.) Think a tiny little puppy compared to the gigantic, grown-up dog that it’s going to turn into.
This is the detail that always draws comments: she is facing west. Not the Eiffel Tower, not towards the rest of Paris toward New York, as if she’s watching her older sister in the distance…
That impression really touched me the first time I read it. There is an air of nostalgia about a statute still waiting and watching in the direction of the thing that gave her birth.
So what that therefore means is?
This is where it gets exciting, and I promise it’s not just at the bar down the road for a pub quiz, this has been a very important factor in the history of the relationship between France and the United States.
Everyone is familiar with the fact that the original Statue of Liberty, standing on the tip of Manhattan, was originally a gift from the French to the Americans, and was revealed in 1886. It was constructed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi with help with structural engineering from Gustave Eiffel.
What many people don’t realize is that a few years afterward the American community in Paris decided to return the gesture. Only a few years later in 1889 The Year of the World’s Fair that gave the city the Eiffel Tower, a group of Americans living in Paris had a miniature version of the statue made for France.
It’s a nice, equal gesture when you really think about it. Like a thank you card, just the thank you card is 38 feet high and made of bronze. Bartholdi even built the mini me, so he definitely owns it.
The statue was originally placed in a different position; however, in 1937, during another World’s Fair, it was relocated to the current position on the Ile aux Cygnes and has been there ever since, observing the passing river crafts.
Quick Facts: Statue of Liberty in Paris at a Glance
Let’s take a step back. For those just quickly browsing, a summarizing cheat-sheet (no shame I do it too when researching a last-minute three-day weekend at 11 p.m.):
- Location: Ile aux Cygnes, near Pont de Grenelle, 15th arrondissement, Paris. Apparent size: 3mm, a small black and white magnified barber pole shape, perpendicular to the column.
- Height: Around 38 ft (11.5m), base down to top of pedestal
- Material: Bronze
- An installed: 1889 (moved to current location in 1937)
- Sculptor: Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. (He is the same sculptor as the New York statue)
- Faces: West, toward New York
- Access: Free, outdoors, opened all year long
- Nearest Metro: Bir-Hakeim or Javel–Andre Citroen
Not too shabby for something most tourists tend to completely miss.
How the Paris Statue Compares to the New York Original
Imagine the pendant statue as a pocket-sized version of your favorite device – similar features but more manageable size, more comfortable in your hand, easily stored away in your mind once you’ve experienced it.
| Feature | Statue of Liberty (New York) | Statue of Liberty (Paris) |
| Height | 305 ft (including pedestal) | Graph 2 shows a water height of about 10 ft for this experiment. |
| Material | Copper (with iron frame) | Bronze |
| Unveiled | 1886.18.15 A study of civil service, the distribution of the population, the employment situation, income distribution, and the concentration of industries.0009171 as a means of giving the New Course a better understanding of the economic policy which it was to implement. There was nothing equivalently comprehensive in the world. | 1889.1. Formal time limit for the assessment of [Elwakib]. This starts from the occurrence of the event. The provisions at 1889.1may be excluded in some laws. |
| What is provided by: | France, the USA | Community in Paris, Paris to the U. S |
| Location | Liberty Island, NY Harbor | Ile aux Cygnes, Seine River |
| Sculptor | Frederic Auguste Bartholdi | Frederic Auguste Bartholdi |
| Faces | Southeast, to Atlantic | West, toward New York |
That final row is my passion in the entire table. Two sculptures by the exact same person, gazing at each other’s backs across an – between them.. I didn’t think search year 1375 was the day I’d be reading.
Should I see Paris Statue of Liberty?
Reason answer: yes, to the extent that you control the expectations to which the customer arrives.
Longer answer: this isn’t a “spend the entire day here” type of attraction. It’s a “pleasant distraction while on your way from one place to another” type of attraction. And truthfully, I think that’s part of its appeal. You won’t have to battle rushes, pick up tickets in a long line, and wait behind a half dozen security dogs. You’ll just walk up, and there she is.
I’d compare it to discovering an excellent new small bakery tucked away at the bottom of a side street you weren’t intending to visit. Certainly isn’t going to displace the Louvre. But it will add a dimension of depth to your journey that the more obvious landmarks may not offer.
A few honest impressions from my own visit:
- It’s serene. It is a slight walking path that stretches along the trees on the Ile aux Cygnes that is a lot quieter than most other tourist attractions in the centre of Paris.
- The overview is beautiful. The sightline from the statue down the Seine is very scenic and on a bright day the Eiffel Tower can be seen in the distance which is a very nice picture.
- Tends to attract easily combined with other stops. With proximity to the Eiffel Tower and situated along the river, it can easily encompass a walking day without the need of a special trip.
How to Visit: Tips for Visiting From Someone Who Almost Missed It the First Time
I’ll confess: when I attempted to locate it myself (before my friend led me on a fifteen-minute tour), I spent a good twenty minutes on the wrong side of the river, staring blankly at Google maps as though it had just kicked me in the shins. So let me help you.
How to arrive: The closest point of access is the Bir-Hakeim metro station (Line 6). Once you have exited, it’s a short walk to reach the Pont de Bir-Hakeim which also offers a wonderful view of the statue and a prized Eiffel Tower picture postcard angle all at the same spot it’s what every postcard has in store.
Or, Javel–Andre Citroen stop will give you closer access to the southern tip of the island.
Favored time of day: late afternoo, In spring or summer sunset view is awesome, due to the light reflection of the Seine.
How long to spend there: In my opinion, 20–30 minutes is sufficient unless you want to walk the entire length of the Ile aux Cygnes which will bring your round-trip journey to about 45 minutes and is quite a pleasant walk when the weather is nice.
Cost: Free. No tickets, no lines, no gift shop rush. Just you, the river, and a diminutive Lady Liberty.
The Other Statues of Liberty Hiding in Paris
Here’s a fun curveball that catches everyone off guard (including myself when I was first told): the Ile aux Cygnes statue is not the only Statue of Liberty in Paris. There are a couple of smaller replicas hidden throughout the city, sort of like Easter eggs for park/monument lovers:
- Musee d’Orsay: Inside the well-known museum, there’s a somewhat diminutive bronze model (left), once the working maquette for the life-size New York sculpture (below). If you’re rushing past it to see the Impressionist collection of paintings, don’t. Wait and observe.
- Luxembourg Gardens: Another miniature version can be seen here, squeezed into the gardens by the Musee du Luxembourg. Again, it’s the sort that one might not notice if rushing by it’s something I missed twice until directed to look.
- Musee des Arts et Metiers: A scaled down version is also found here, related to the design process of the original statue.
Well, honestly, if you wanted to, you could put together an entire “Statue of Liberty scavenger hunt” day in Paris. I haven’t completed the whole tour yet, but it is at the top of my list for my next trip another lesson to be learned: even when you think you have “done” a city, it will manage to astound you.
Why This Little-Known Landmark Matters More Than It Seems
On first impression, this could sound like a strange digression a tiny sculpture on a tiny island referenced in barely more than a comma in most tour guides. Yet I believe it is something greater than its diminutive proportion implies.
It is a material token of more than a century-old friendship between two nations; not coded into trade agreements or binding peace treaties, but symbolized in a monument we can approach and feel. If France gave America a giant, America’s Parisian community returned to France a tiny replica of that giant in miniature. A dialogue in bronze and copper that spanned continents, and lasted for ten long years.
And truly, that’s half of why I love stumbling upon places like this when I travel. The grand monuments are a city telling you what it wants to show. The more modest, recognizable ones reveal the softer, quieter story of its past… If you aren’t afraid to veer a little off course.
Final Thoughts: Add Her to Your Paris Itinerary
If you’re heading to Paris with the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and (most importantly) Notre-Dame checked off your list (and you should), would you mind just squeezing in a half-hour visit to the Statue of Liberty on Ile aux Cygnes? Free, quick, and provides that “wait – isn’t that what we just saw for free?” piece of trivia you end up sharing when you come home.
I definitely didn’t see a small green sculpture on a plerny, empty island becoming one of my favorite moments in Paris, but you never know when the most enjoyable travel finds are going to be nothing like the trip you planned, just the discovery a friend keeps chasing you toward…for 15 minutes at a time, even though you want to tell her she’s wrong.
That they haven’t.
So next time you’re crossing the Pont de Bir-Hakeim, glance to the west. She’ll be there, standing roughly facing home.
Sources & Further Reading
- Statue of Liberty : The best definitive account of the entire history of the statue from her inception in France through construction and on to New York Harbor. Most complete and accurate timeline of ownership.
- Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi : A more comprehensive bio of the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty looking at his life, his other important works and confirming the existence of the two three-quarter size versions in Paris: the study piece now at the Musee d’Orsay and the 1889 gift in Parc de Grenelle.
