Bethesda Terrace & Angel of the Waters

Why is it significant?

Step out onto the upper sandstone terrace and gaze down across the grand stone staircase to the plaza and the waters of The Lake. You have arrived at Bethesda Terrace, the acknowledged architectural masterpiece and spiritual center of Central Park.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Step out onto the upper sandstone terrace and gaze down across the grand stone staircase to the plaza and the waters of The Lake. You have arrived at Bethesda Terrace, the acknowledged architectural masterpiece and spiritual center of Central Park. Notice the warm, golden New Brunswick sandstone surrounding you, intricately carved by Victorian stonecutters with delicate reliefs of birds, acorns, and native forest leaves.

Look at the bronze winged figure rising above the circular fountain below: that is Emma Stebbins' famous Angel of the Waters, unveiled in eighteen seventy-three. Stebbins was the first woman ever commissioned to create a major public artwork for New York City. The angel holds a lily in her hand, blessing the fountain to commemorate the opening of the Croton Aqueduct in eighteen forty-two, which first brought clean, life-saving drinking water to a city previously ravaged by deadly cholera epidemics.

Walk beneath the terrace into the subterranean arcade. Look up at the ceiling: nearly sixteen thousand colorful encaustic tiles made by the renowned Minton tile company in Stoke-on-Trent, England, create a shimmering pattern that amplifies the voice of every passing street musician.

Follow the lake breeze along the shore as we make our way toward the romantic iron curve of Bow Bridge.