PARIS TO LIVE THE LION DE BELFORT, GUARDIAN OF PARIS
At the centre of Place Denfert- Rochereau stands Auguste Bart holdi’s majestic 13-ft high (4-m) by 23-ft (7-m) long copper lion guarding one of the capital’s main accesses. The artist presented a replica on a smaller scale that he’d sculpted in red sandstone from his native Belfort region for the Salon de 1878. In 1879, the Paris Council purchased it in memory of Denfert-Rochereau, who had led the forces protecting the city of Belfort during the War of 1870 1871, and initially planned to place it on the Buttes-Chaumont. Follow ing a petition by residents of the 14th arrondissement, eager to host a pow erful political symbol for the city, the king of beasts was inaugurated on Place Denfert-Rochereau on Sep tember 21, 1880. A medallion in hon our of Denfert-Rochereau was added to its base in 1979, to commemorate the return of Alsace and Lorraine to France after WWI.
