Lion of Belfort

About this place

The Lion of Belfort, in Belfort, France, is an 1880 monumental sculpture by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty. Finished in 1880, it is made entirely of red sandstone. The blocks it is made from were individually sculpted, then moved to the cliff below Belfort castle to be assembled. Twenty-two meters in length and 11 meters in height, the colossal work dominates the local landscape. The lion symbolizes the heroic French resistance during the Siege of Belfort, a 103-day Prussian assault from December 1870 to February 1871. The city was successfully defended against 40,000 Prussians by merely 17,000 men led by Colonel Denfert-Rochereau, with the fortress holding out until the Armistice of Versailles obligated French forces to abandon it. Look at the entrances, walls and surrounding terrain together. Their relationship helps explain how the site controlled movement and protected its occupants, while later alterations can reveal the shift from military stronghold to residence or monument.