Lion's Mound

The Lion's Mound (Butte du Lion) is the most visible landmark on the Waterloo battlefield — a massive artificial hill topped with a 28-tonne cast-iron lion, erected to mark the spot where William, Prince of Orange, was wounded during the battle. The lion faces France, which was taken at the time as a pointed message about the direction the threat had come from.

Climbing the 226 steps to the summit gives a panoramic view across the entire battlefield — the ridge where Wellington deployed his forces, the farmhouses of Hougoumont and La Haie Sainte, the valley where the French cavalry charged, and the distant Bois de Paris where the Prussians arrived. The view makes the tactical logic of the battle immediately clear in a way that no museum display can replicate. The mound is at the heart of the Memorial 1815 visitor complex and is the natural starting point for any tour of the battlefield.

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The 40-metre mound was built between 1820 and 1826, and its construction consumed roughly 300,000 cubic metres of earth. Much of that earth came from the battlefield itself — including, notoriously, from the sunken road where many soldiers had sheltered. Critics at the time argued (correctly) that the mound had permanently altered the battlefield's original topography. Napoleon's old guard, who fought on this ground, reportedly said the Belgians had destroyed the battlefield to commemorate a defeat.