Swiss lion
The Swiss Lion ( Spanish León Suizo ) is a sculptural memorial in Santiago de Chile , which was built by the local Swiss community on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the independence of the South American country, as a token of the gratitude of the European immigrants for the good reception by the Chilean People. It is located on the main street of the Chilean capital, the Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins , known as "La Alameda" ( Poplar - Allee ).
history
The monument was inaugurated in 1910 in a ceremony chaired by the President of the then Swiss Community, Luis Hüe Druz, together with the then mayor of the municipality of Santiago, Luis Moreno. In its iconography , the sculpture is represented by a roaring lion while he holds the Chilean national coat of arms in front of him. Both figures are designed in bronze and are located on a base carved in stone , on the front of which the federal coat of arms of Switzerland is engraved.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thousands of Swiss families came to Chile as immigrants in order to populate and colonize some regions in the south of Chile (especially in the region of the " little south " or even Chilean Switzerland). These tasks had previously been taken over by other European immigrants, mainly German settlers .
The monument was restored during the bicentennial celebrations in Chile and reopened in 2011.
The German fountain (Spanish: Fuente Alemana ) is another memorial that was donated by the German minority in Chile on the occasion of the same celebration .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The struggle for land - Swiss settlers in Chile . Swiss radio and television . October 3, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
- ↑ Mariel Jara: El 'León Suizo' vuelve a rugir en la capital chilena (Spanish) , SWI swissinfo.ch . September 13, 2011. Accessed May 28, 2020.