Pygmalion was a young man living alone in Amathus working as a sculptor. One night Aphrodite took the form of a beautiful woman and appeared in his dream. When Pygmalion awoke, he remembered the dream and began to carve this face. He made an ivory statue and fell so in love with it that he prayed to the goddess Aphrodite to bring it to life. Aphrodite was moved and did him a favor. When Pygmalion returned home, he found the statue alive. He named this woman Galatea and asked her to marry him. Galatea married her creator and they had a daughter whom they named Paphos.

The legend says that a long time ago, around 1400 A.H., before the foundation of the Romanian Country, in a clearing of Vlasiei Forest, a shepherd lived, named Mos Ploae (The Old Rain), together with his seven sons. Having rich grass for sheep and fertile land for agriculture, the shepherd decides to stay with his family and builds houses for himself and his sons. Once the houses were built, a settlement was formed which was given its name.

The statue, made from national public subscription funds, was made in France, in Paris, by the sculptor L. Quadry, and was brought to the country in 1876. It is 3.5 m high and represents the goddess Minerva, holding in the right hand a spear, and in the left a parchment on which is written "Constitution and electoral law", which suggests that freedom sometimes needs a fight to be defended.