The Hill
A huge mound was constructed at the spot, using earth taken from other parts of the battlefield, including the fields between La Haye Sainte farm and the Duke of Wellington's sunken lane.
The mound is 43 m (141 ft) in height and has a circumference of 520 m (1706 ft), which dimensions would yield a volume in excess of 390,000 m3 (514,000 yd3), despite the usual claim of 300,000 m3. The discrepancy might be accounted for if part of the volume is occupied by an existing volume of some topographic feature, say, the ridge of Mont-St. Jean.
Victor Hugo mentions in his novel Les Miserables that on visiting the site two years after the completion of the mound, the Duke of Wellington is said to have remarked, "They have altered my field of battle!" Be that as it may, the hillock offers a splendid vista of the battlefield, and is the anchor point of the tourist trade associated with it in le Hameau du Lion (Lion's Hamlet), where there are museums and taverns. A fee of €6 is charged to ascend the 226 steps leading to the statue and observation area at the top. Orientation maps documenting the battle and telescopes are provided.
Read more about this topic: Lion's Mound
Famous quotes containing the word hill:
“The hill farmer ... always seems to make out somehow with his corn patch, his few vegetables, his rifle, and fishing rod. This self-contained economy creates in the hillman a comparative disinterest in the world’s affairs, along with a disdain of lowland ways. “I don’t go to question the good Lord in his wisdom,” runs the phrasing attributed to a typical mountaineer, “but I jest cain’t see why He put valleys in between the hills.””
—Administration in the State of Arka, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“What was dancing to you then?
We went from the high gate away
To a black hill the other side of men
Where one wild stag stared
At the going day.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)