De Leeuw van Waterloo

The construction of the monument of Waterloo took place between 1823 and 1826. There were 290,486 cubic meters of sand needed to build this 40 meter high hill. On top of it stands a 28-ton cast iron lion on a pedestal of 4.5 meters. The lion itself is a design of the sculptor Jean-Louis van Geel. An underground ring of bricks supports the monument. The designer of this was the architect Charles Vander Straeten, private architect of the Prince of Orange, and finally (Public Works) Architect of Royal Palaces and National Buildings.