JOSH GATES: In New York City,
an American icon has a surprising
secret origin story,
while in the city of Istanbul...
[ Man calling ]
...a powerful call rings out from a tower in the sky.
[ Man calling ]
GATES: And on the island paradise of Hawaii,
a majestic palace may still be haunted
by its ghostly monarchs.
I'm Josh Gates.
I've traveled millions of miles
and explored over 100 countries.
Lost city, here I come.
And my favorite destinations
have epic tales to tell.
These are the stories
and the secrets
of those legendary locations.
They say that every great legend has a great origin story,
and by "they," I mean the people who keep making Spider-Man movies.
Seriously, how many times do I have to watch Uncle Ben die?
But when it comes to the real world,
there's a towering figure with an epic backstory,
a superhero in her own right, one we're all familiar with,
but whose true identity and origins
are the stuff of legend.
♪♪
[ Beeping noises ]
GATES: No matter how you travel to New York City,
whether by air,
land, or water,
as I did recently, you're bound to catch sight
of one of America's most magnificent monuments.
She's been called Lady Liberty, the Gateway to America.
For over 130 years, she's stood at the site
where so many great American stories began,
and yet, perhaps the most fascinating origin of all...
is her own.
France, the late 1860s.
Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi
is hard at work on what he hopes will become his masterpiece,
an icon of the Industrial Age.
But it's not the Statue of Liberty.
It's for a monument a half a world away.
It's a concept for a massive sculpture at the entrance
to Egypt's Suez Canal in the shape of
a robed Arab peasant woman.
It's rejected for being too costly
and replaced by a simple lighthouse.
But years later, Bartholdi sees an opportunity
to revive his design in the USA.
He adopts an idea put forth by a French politician
to create a monument celebrating America's centennial,
its friendship with France,
and its embrace of freedom for all.
He enlists the help of Gustave Eiffel,
soon to be famous for his own structure,
and publisher Joseph A. Pulitzer,
of Pulitzer Prize fame, and to update
his original design, he turns to the realm
of myth and legend, dreaming up a new statue
in the form of a Roman goddess --
Libertas, the goddess of freedom.
Over the centuries, she'd appeared on Roman coins
and in the great seal of the French Republic,
but thanks to Bartholdi,
her grandest appearance will be as a monumental gateway
to America.
He calls her Liberty Enlightening the World.
The design includes a crown, whose seven spikes
represent the seven seas and the seven continents.
The larger-than-life lady
will measure over 111 feet head to toe.
She'll have a 35-foot waistline
and 25-foot feet.
That means her shoe size is roughly 879,
in case you were wondering.
But even with the ambitious design completed,
Liberty's story is just beginning.
The statue is built in France and transported in pieces
across the Atlantic to New York,
a journey that nearly ends in disaster
when rough waters threaten to send her to the bottom
of the ocean,
and when all the segments do arrive,
they sit for another year, awaiting completion
of the 27,000-ton concrete and granite pedestal.
Even upon its grand opening in 1886,
the Statue of Liberty wasn't set in stone, so to speak.
There were all kinds of ideas on how to improve it,
including Thomas Edison's not-so-modest proposal
to place a giant phonograph inside that would allow
the statue to talk.
Yeah, that one didn't pan out.
But one famous change did, naturally --
the 20-year transformation from her brown color
to a green patina -- it was caused
by oxidation, thought by some to be a sign of weakening,
but it actually strengthened the copper
and helped Lady Liberty weather the ravages of time,
the elements,
and one of the most famous scenes in film history...
getting buried in the Ape-pocalypse.
Yep, through it all, the statue continues
to stand firm -- sure, she sways a few inches
when hit with the occasional hurricane,
but for those who call America home,
she's as enduring as ever.
Look, Emi, the Statue of Liberty.
Isn't she beautiful?
GATES: This is Martin Orduna, who arrived in the U.S.
from Argentina 16 years ago.
He and his two-year-old son are eager to visit the statue
for the very first time,
but no matter how close visitors get,
they can't see everything, because as famous
as this statue is, she still has a few secrets.
Emi, look!
GATES: Three-hundred feet above Upper New York Bay,
a torch raised by a legendary Roman goddess burns bright,
lighting the way for all Americans,
especially those newly minted.
Emi, look!
GATES: A man who immigrated to the U.S. nearly
two decades ago is seeing the Statue of Liberty up close
for the first time, and for him,
as for so many, just being here
means the world.
GATES: And so, too, are the 3.5 million
who visit the statue every year,
but virtually none of them can see two hidden features
that sum up her true message.
On her tablet, an engraving --
July 4, 1776,
a nod to America's independence.
But freedom for all Americans did not come in 1776.
And so,
by Lady Liberty's feet sit a broken chain and shackle,
believed to symbolize the abolition of slavery
in 1865 after the Civil War.
While almost completely obscured
by her robe to visitors below, the shackle and chain
are still slightly visible, perhaps a reminder
that even as the statue was being built in the 1870s,
true freedom was still not a reality.
Smile for the camera...
GATES: But for Martin and his son, like so many others,
the Statue of Liberty remains America's most enduring symbol.
She is herself an immigrant
with a multi-cultural heritage and a legendary origin
whose own difficult journey ultimately led her home.
If you travel away from home often,
as I tend to, you'll eventually find yourself
retracing your steps.
I can't tell you how many times I've napped
on those uncomfortable airport benches at London Heathrow,
but when my journeys take me out of the Western world
and into the East, there's one city where
I couldn't be happier to spend a layover -- Istanbul.
♪♪
Let me help you spend your money.
Sure. Okay. Yes.
♪♪
Oh, it's a tiny woman living in there.
Totally unexpected.
Istanbul was once the epicenter of
the Christian world before it was conquered to become
the capital of the Islamic Ottoman Empire.
The city's location makes it one-of-a-kind.
Split in two by the Bosphorus Strait,
Istanbul straddles the great divide between Europe and Asia,
and at its heart stands a massive structure
whose design is steeped in legend
and where you can still hear
one of the most iconic sounds in the world.
[ Beeping noises ]
♪♪
Allow me to introduce you to Sultanahmet Archaeological Park.
It's a bit like your local park if your local park
was built on an ancient Roman hippodrome
and bookended by a pair of humanity's greatest
architectural masterpieces.
On one side, the Hagia Sophia.
On the other,
the Blue Mosque.
Two monuments built by two empires.
[ Man calling ]
And five times a day, they're brought together
by a voice from atop the Blue Mosque,
that of a man known as a muezzin.
But it's not exactly like doing the "Star-Spangled Banner" at Fenway Park.
The role of the muezzin is a sacred duty.
At the Blue Mosque,
the honor belongs to Ibrahim Coban.
[ Speaking foreign language ]
TRANSLATOR: I started to work as a muezzin in 2011.
Music has always been my passion.
GATES: Over four years, Ibrahim mastered his craft.
And in 2015, he got called up to the big leagues
to become a muezzin at the legendary Blue Mosque.
Understanding what makes the Blue Mosque so legendary
means understanding its origins, and to do that,
you first have to look across the way to the Hagia Sophia.
Commissioned in the year 532 by the Byzantine Emperor,
Justinian I, it is the largest Christian cathedral
in the world for almost 1,000 years.
[ Shouting ]
But in the 1400s, the city falls
to the Islamic Ottoman Empire. [ Shouting ]
Mehmed the Conqueror converts the Hagia Sophia
into a grand mosque.
Most Christian imagery is painted over,
and four towering minarets are added to its design.
Flash forward a couple of hundred years
to the early 17th century when Sultan Ahmet I
decides he can do better than a used cathedral
for his empire's crown jewel.
He commissions his master builder to construct
a new, grander mosque -- it will feature
one large dome surrounded by eight smaller ones.
Inside, more than 260 stained glass windows
let in the light.
And adorning the walls are 20,000 incredibly detailed
individually painted blue tiles
depicting cypress trees, fruits,
tulips, and roses.
The ornate decoration scheme evokes the idea of bounty,
and its unique color ultimately gives the Sultan Ahmet Mosque
its popular name, and to make his mosque
shine brighter than the Hagia Sophia,
the sultan order minarets made of gold
that would gleam in the Istanbul sun.
There's just one problem --
there was a legendary miscommunication.
According to folklore, the architect thought
the sultan asked for six minarets,
because in Turkish, the words for gold and six
are so similar.
And while the Blue Mosque never got its golden towers,
it does have one of the most unique and dramatic
designs in the world.
And it's from one of those legendary minarets
that we'll hear today's song.
The city of Istanbul prepares for the midday prayer
as the muezzin ascends one of the Blue Mosque's
210-foot spires
to what could just be
the grandest stage
in the world.
[ Man calling ]
GATES: In Turkey's largest city of Istanbul,
the call to prayer emanates from over 3,000 mosques.
[ Man calling ]
GATES: And perhaps the loudest rings out from one of
the six minarets of the stunning Blue Mosque.
[ Man calling ]
GATES: For muezzin Ibrahim Coban
taking the stage at the Blue Mosque,
the view is legendary.
From here, he looks out onto the 14 million people
of Istanbul.
Down below, worshippers begin to file into the Blue Mosque.
They remove their shoes before kneeling on
one of the many rugs that line the floor,
which are donated by the faithful.
The muezzin keeps his eye on the clock.
And then, finally, it's showtime.
[ Ibrahim calling ]
♪♪
GATES: His call from the minaret soars over the park below
toward the Hagia Sophia.
Though it may just be three blocks of a city,
the Hagia Sophia,
the Blue Mosque,
and the song between them
will always bring me back to Istanbul.
But in my pursuit to explore as much of our planet
as possible, I'm always amazed that some of the most
mysterious locations are right in my proverbial backyard.
Ever since the colonies said thanks but no thanks
to the British monarchy in 1776,
our country has been royalty-free --
that is, unless you count the Kennedys or the Kardashians.
But you might be surprised to hear that on
the island state of Hawaii, there's a legendary
royal palace that still stands, and not only that,
its monarchs may still roam the halls.
[ Beeping noises ]
Ah, Hawaii.
Before this Pacific island paradise became
the country's 50th state and a favorite
for beachgoers and mai tai lovers everywhere,
Hawaii was its own independent kingdom,
and nestled inside its capital of Honolulu,
this grand structure, the Iolani Palace,
It was once a real-life king's landing
whose history can still be felt,
and if some are to be believed, even seen.
1879 -- King Kalakaua,
part of a Hawaiian dynasty that united the once
independent islands, orders the construction
of a royal residence befitting the achievements
of his ancestors, and as the first monarch ever
to circumnavigate the globe,
he draws on designs from all over the world.
At its opening in 1882,
the Iolani Palace is a grand seat of power
for a proud people, but sadly,
it only serves as a royal residence for nine years
before its monarchs are thrust out of power
and into the realm of legend.
I'm just really in awe of this place.
We can kind of walk in our ancestors' footsteps.
GATES: Kini Zamora is a local and has become
a world-renowned fashion designer and finalist
on the hit show "Project Runway."
And Orlando Benedicto is his go-to photographer.
Today, they're exploring the legend of
Iolani Palace's last monarchs, who some believe
never left these halls, even in death.
They start at the palace's grand staircase,
where King Kalakaua greeted dignitaries and luminaries
from around the world.
More recently, security guards and visitors have claimed
to see a mysterious, shadowy figure climbing the stairs at night.
I love the lighting in this place.
The chandeliers, they look very unique.
We had electricity before the White House did,
and that's something interesting that a lot of people don't know,
and that's something that we can be proud of.
GATES: The palace had telephones before the White House, too.
But its main attraction was its largest space --
the throne room.
This was where the king conducted the business of the court
and hosted entertainment events so often,
he was called "The Merry Monarch."
The king and his successor, his sister,
Queen Lili'uokalani, made this a legendary space
of music and enjoyment.
In fact, she actually composed the song that most people
associate with Hawaii, "Aloha 'Oe."
[ Woman singing ]
Visitors today often claim to hear faint music
echoing through the throne room,
a sign that the queen's song has never left Iolani's halls,
and some believe she hasn't, either.
Here's why.
When Lili'uokalani takes the throne,
she faces anti-monarchist pressure from European,
American, and even some Hawaiian business interests.
On January 16, 1893,
those pressures boil over.
U.S. Marines storm the shores and surround the palace.
The queen agrees to abdicate her throne,
allowing the U.S. to annex Hawaii,
but some believe that the queen is still in residence
because they've seen her
face-to-face.
GATES: Hidden in the heart of Honolulu
is America's only royal palace, said to be haunted
by its last Hawaiian royals, and today,
Hawaiian fashion designer, Kini Zamora,
and photographer, Orlando Benedicto,
are touring this legendary location
to explore the story's origins.
So this is the king's study or office
and library.
GATES: In 1895, supporters of the deposed queen,
Lili'uokalani, attempt to reinstall her on the throne.
The effort fails,
and as punishment, she's imprisoned inside
a palace bedroom for nearly eight months,
an experience said to have haunted her for the rest of her life.
Today, some visitors to this historic site
claim that Lili'uokalani herself
haunts her palace bedroom.
For many, these stories are a stark reminder
of Hawaii's oft-forgotten past.
But for others,
they're more of a comforting reminder
that the spirits of the palace's monarchs live on.
Just looking around, I'm speechless
every time I come into this room.
It's amazing.
GATES: Kini and Orlando make their way back to the entrance
and proceed to honor the palace's history
and the spirit of Queen Lili'uokalani
the best way they know how -- by staging a photo shoot.
♪♪
I like how in the shot, you can see the full crest
and the door.
[ Camera shutter clicks ]
Oh, my gosh, those are gorgeous.
BENEDICTO: I love how it just combines the history
and the significance of Iolani Palace.
ZAMORA: Everything kinda comes to life in this photo.
I absolutely love it.
GATES: And maybe the royals of Iolani Palace
come to life, too, to watch over their kingdom.
No matter where your travels take you,
you're sure to come across storied monuments
conceived and created to honor what we hold precious,
celebrating everything from freedom and ambition
to reverence and unity, and most of all,
to remind us where we came from
and where we yearn to go.
I'm Josh Gates.
Travel adventurously, and I'll see you next time
on "Legendary Locations."