{"name":"The Obelisk (Cleopatra’s Needle)","city":"New York City, New York","canonical_url":"https://gydeinfo.com/new-york-city/places/the-obelisk-cleopatra-s-needle/","markdown_url":"https://gydeinfo.com/new-york-city/places/the-obelisk-cleopatra-s-needle.md","updated_at":"2026-06-20T00:28:28.621791+00:00","facts":[{"claim":"Smarthistory describes the obelisk as the oldest monument in New York City.","citation":"https://smarthistory.org/the-new-york-obelisk-cleopatras-needle/","source_title":"The New York Obelisk, Cleopatra's Needle","source_type":"manual","allowed_use":"facts_with_citation","retrieved_at":"2026-06-19T23:08:02.104206+00:00","fact_type":"significance","as_of":"2026","confidence":0.93},{"claim":"The obelisk was gifted by Ismail Pasha of Egypt in the 1870s as a gift from Egypt to the United States.","citation":"https://smarthistory.org/the-new-york-obelisk-cleopatras-needle/","source_title":"The New York Obelisk, Cleopatra's Needle","source_type":"manual","allowed_use":"facts_with_citation","retrieved_at":"2026-06-19T23:08:02.104206+00:00","fact_type":"history","as_of":"2026","confidence":0.9},{"claim":"The obelisk stands in Central Park directly behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art.","citation":"https://smarthistory.org/the-new-york-obelisk-cleopatras-needle/","source_title":"The New York Obelisk, Cleopatra's Needle","source_type":"manual","allowed_use":"facts_with_citation","retrieved_at":"2026-06-19T23:08:02.104206+00:00","fact_type":"location","as_of":"2026","confidence":0.92},{"claim":"The obelisk was originally one of a pair commissioned by Pharaoh Thutmose III for the Temple of the Sun in Heliopolis in 1475 BCE.","citation":"https://info.ggc.nyc/blog/central-park-obelisk","source_title":"Central Park Obelisk | Cleopatra's Needle - Great Gotham Challenge","source_type":"manual","allowed_use":"facts_with_citation","retrieved_at":"2026-06-19T23:08:01.296637+00:00","fact_type":"history","as_of":"2026","confidence":0.85},{"claim":"The Egyptian government formally gifted the second of Cleopatra's Needles to the United States on May 18, 1879.","citation":"https://info.ggc.nyc/blog/central-park-obelisk","source_title":"Central Park Obelisk | Cleopatra's Needle - Great Gotham Challenge","source_type":"manual","allowed_use":"facts_with_citation","retrieved_at":"2026-06-19T23:08:01.296637+00:00","fact_type":"history","as_of":"1879","confidence":0.87},{"claim":"The second Cleopatra's Needle was erected in Central Park on January 22, 1881.","citation":"https://info.ggc.nyc/blog/central-park-obelisk","source_title":"Central Park Obelisk | Cleopatra's Needle - Great Gotham Challenge","source_type":"manual","allowed_use":"facts_with_citation","retrieved_at":"2026-06-19T23:08:01.296637+00:00","fact_type":"notable_events","as_of":"1881","confidence":0.9},{"claim":"The obelisk was placed in its present Central Park location on January 22, 1881.","citation":"https://www.lindahall.org/experience/digital-exhibitions/centuries-of-civil-engineering/03-monuments/a-cleopatra-s-needle-comes-to-new-york/","source_title":"A. 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