Situated in a small park at the entrance of Glacier garden in Lucerne, the Lion monument is a giant dying garden carved out of a wall of sandstone rock above a pond. Designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen, a classical Danish sculptor in 1819, the monument was later crafted by Lucas Ahorn, a stonemason from southern Germany, in 1820. The Lion Monument was inaugurated on August 10, 1821.
Originally, the site was a private property; however, in 1882, the city of Lucerne bought it. The monument soon became one of the major tourist attractions of Lucerne. The giant monument measures 6m high and 10m long. It is dedicated to the loyalty and bravery of soldiers from central Switzerland who scarified their lives while serving the French king Louis XVI during the French Revolution.
Below the sculpture of dying lion, one would find listed the names of the officers and a brief description of approximate numbers of soldiers who died and survived. The wall of the monument flaunts the remnant of a quarry, which was exploited over centuries to build the town.