The Monument to the Heroes of the Military Engineers' Army (Romanian: Monumentul Eroilor din Arma Geniului; often called Leul - "the Lion") in Bucharest, Romania is dedicated to the heroism and sacrifice of the military engineers who fought in the Romanian Army during World War I, of whom nearly a thousand were killed in action and many more wounded.
Unveiled in June 1929, it is located at the intersection of Bulevardul Geniului and Bulevardul Iuliu Maniu, across the street from Cotroceni Palace. One of Bucharest's most recognisable monuments, it was financed entirely through donations from veteran officers of the Military Engineers' Army and executed by Spiridon Georgescu.
Set into the pyramidal base are bronze reliefs depicting the engineers in action. Four life-sized bronze statues represent troops from the Military Engineers' Army — a sapper, a pontoon bridge builder, a Signal Corps engineer and a Căile Ferate Române soldier.
But the monument's chief component is a statue of a lion, which stands atop the pedestal. With his front paws he tramples upon the barrel of a cannon (upon which sits a Pickelhaube); a flag flows downward. The lion symbolises the endurance, daring and bravery shown by Romanian troops between 1916 and 1918, especially at the dramatic battles during the summer of 1917 — Mărăşti, Oituz and Mărăşeşti.
Carved into the pedestal in relief is the inscription, "Spuneţi generaţiilor viitoare că noi am făcut suprema jertfă pe câmpurile de bătaie pentru întregirea neamului" - "Tell succeeding generations that we made the supreme sacrifice on the fields of battle for the union of the people". A medallion on the steps at the bottom reads, "" - "To the heroes of the Military Engineers' Army 1916-1919".
Famous quotes containing the words monument to, monument, heroes, military and/or army:
“It is remarkable that the dead lie everywhere under stones.... Why should the monument be so much more enduring than the fame which it is designed to perpetuate,—a stone to a bone? “Here lies,”M”Here lies”;Mwhy do they not sometimes write, There rises? Is it a monument to the body only that is intended?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Their monument sticks like a fishbone
in the city’s throat.
Its Colonel is as lean
as a compass-needle.”
—Robert Lowell (1917–1977)
“The world doesn’t make any heroes anymore.”
—Graham Greene (1904–1991)
“I would sincerely regret, and which never shall happen whilst I am in office, a military guard around the President.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“These semi-traitors [Union generals who were not hostile to slavery] must be watched.—Let us be careful who become army leaders in the reorganized army at the end of this Rebellion. The man who thinks that the perpetuity of slavery is essential to the existence of the Union, is unfit to be trusted. The deadliest enemy the Union has is slavery—in fact, its only enemy.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)