Visit to Waterloo Battlefield Museum and Lion’s Mound, Belgium
Beyond the ticket counter of Waterloo Museum is the Lion’s mound, the sight gets better only after you make the entry with expensive tickets. Lion’s Mound was built in 1823 and 1826 in dedication to soldiers who died on June 18, 1815, the day of the battle of Waterloo. It marks the spot where Prince Guillaume of Orange, the heir to the throne and commander in chief of the first corps of Wellington’s army, was wounded.
Lion’s Mound Waterloo
Its location is intended to recall the place where the Dutch Prince of Orange suffered a wound to his shoulder. Erected in 1823, it took three years to finish the construction of this monument situated at a height of 40.5 m and a circumference of 520 m.
The lion symbolises the victory of the allied armies defying France. The cast iron Lion protects the globe and symbolizes the return of peace to Europe.
Lion’s Mound
The artificial hill rises more than 40 meters above the battlefield, 226 stairs lead to the top.
View of Waterloo battlefield from the Lion’s Mound.
Plenty of detailed information presented all along the 14 rooms of the museum. Then in another building across the garden the battle scene depicted: wax statues, pictures, objects that once belonged to Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington, maps of the different battles and armies…a really comprehensive museum. Though I didn’t enjoy this visit much, my daughters could relate to their history lessons.
Visit to Waterloo Battlefield Museum
Waterloo – composed of water (“water”) + loo (“light forest, wood”). (Utrecht) Named after Waterloo in Belgium in memory of the Battle of Waterloo. The choice of name may have been influenced by nearby Austerlitz.
Waterloo Battlefield Interesting Facts:
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on 18 June 1815 between Napoleon’s French Army and a coalition led by the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blücher.
Napoleon lost the Battle of Waterloo—here’s what went wrong. Napoleon made a bold return from exile in 1815 only to lose his last shot at empire in a crushing defeat delivered by the Duke of Wellington and the combined forces of Europe.
The battle of waterloo was a devastating event for the armies involved as well as the village itself. The combined number of men killed or wounded reached nearly 50,000, with close to 25,000 casualties on the French side and approximately 23,000 for the Allied army.
The long-held explanation of what happened to all the dead at Waterloo is grisly: according to reports made soon after the conflict, the bones were collected, pulverised and turned into fertiliser for agricultural use.
While the French referred to the military clash as the Battle of Mont Saint-Jean, it became known in most of the world as the Battle of Waterloo because the Duke of Wellington, who led the victorious forces, made his headquarters in the Waterloo village and the dateline written on the official report he sent back to Britain.
Which troops fought in Waterloo Battlefield? Napoleon’s 72,000 French troops were pitted against the duke of Wellington’s army of 68,000 (British, Dutch, Belgian, and German soldiers) aided by 45,000 Prussians under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. Napoleon was defeated, and he was exiled for the final time.
Battle of Waterloo was lost as a result of an avalanche of misunderstandings. Napoleon knew he must defeat Wellington and his troops before Blücher arrived. The entire French cavalry launched an attack, and Napoleon was powerless to stop it. Its ineffective charges hopelessly impaled themselves on Wellington’s defensive square formations.
An oft asked question is: What Would Happen If Napoleon Won the Battle of Waterloo? If Napoleon Bonaparte had won the war at Waterloo, the Russian force had been crushed by the French army, Poland would have been extended at the cost of Russia in 1814, and the war of peninsula would have ended.
You might like these:
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- Battle of the Somme Amiens France
- Nadabet Seema Darshan – Border Tourism Gujarat
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whoa! i would love to see this sight one day, the green hilly road is just fantastic.
Beautiful shots that artificial peak looks great.
Great tour!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
Beautifully captured! Your first shot is stunning.
Come and see my Sky Shots when you get a chance. Your comment will sure add a delight.
Have a great weekend.
Great post! Nice captures Indrani:)
The first picture which jumped into my eyes on Skywatch page, was the Lion ! When have you been there ? You should have called me to have a drink under the Lion ! Yes visiting the Lion and the rest has become very expensive. When we moved to Waterloo in 75 you could climb on there as much as you wanted and visiting the Panorma costed less then one € ! In the 90th they started with 2 € then in 2000 5 € and then slowly slowly they improved the site to become a real touristic thing and now you pay the price of course. The shop where you buy the tickets didn't exist and there was no fence around the Lion neither.
i think i might have enjoyed a visit to this museum too, with my love for history and stories 😀 nice post!
beautiful lovely pictures 🙂
Bikram's
in my mind, Waterloo is synonymous to Napoleon.:p museums and historic places open the mind.
Museums are always interesting with so many stories to tell. Lion Mound is pretty intriguing.
The battle of Waterloo -every European child knows about that one:) Great pics, Indrani!
Great shots and informative post.
Nice captures
Probably not the sort of visit that one would actually enjoy but as you say an important history lesson.
Nice one! I'll bookmark this and look forward to visiting it in the future.
What an amazing hill!
Did you climb the 226 steps to the top to take in the view?
Nice post!
http://www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com
wonderful!
That would be an excellent way to learn the history by experiencing the events in this way! Wonderful captures as always, Indrani!