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It is very a tiny village of Walloon Brabant in Belgium, a wide world famous site which many people think is the synonymous in several languages connected with a daunting defeat. Reported as being "dreary wilderness" by Victor Hugo, it offered its designation to the London train station and was actually the landscaping for this damn struggle. Most important European forces struggled indeed there on the 18th June 1815. By the end of that horrible event, 60,000 casualties (deceased and injured) were lying on the soil, as much as eyes will notice and the soil was actually red-colored at blood stream.
Maybe you have thought its name? Waterloo, positioned approximately twenty-five km towards the south of Brussels, the main city for Belgium and of the entire European Union. Nowadays, this truly multicultural but also prosperous city, having its great retail stores, its residential neighbourhoods as well as its international school districts, always maintains a close connect featuring its brilliant past.
Every year, the commemoration associated with bigger or lower degree comes about within the battlefield, nevertheless for months, the whole city has-been busily organizing that celebration, on the 18th June 2015, of the bicentenary of the conflict of Waterloo.
On the 18th of June , the small city of Waterloo is expected to be visited by thousands of tourists and History buffs for the commemoration of the battle. Even some heads of state should be present. Many persons have been working hard for a long time to propose an unforgettable show to the people who are expecting an outstanding event. It will include spectacular effects and a full reconstitution of the battle.

The site landscaping has suffered some changes since the 19th century, but the landscape has maintained its agricultural character. A 1914 law protects the site from major modifications and construction, since its situation, in the large suburb of Brussels, makes it very attractive to property developpers.
Many building or historical monuments linked to the battle attracts a large number of tourists. One of them is the house that as Duke of Wellington's last headquarters, that is now known as the Wellington Museum, in the center of Waterloo. Another highlight of the visit is the Farm Caillou, Napoleon's last headquarters, also included in the tour.
Of course, the most visited of all is the famous Lion's Mound, symbol of the city. This lion was built in honor of the Prince of Orange, a few years after the battle, on request of his father, William of the Netherlands; as it is on the top of a 43-meter high mound, it can be seen from the distance.). Its paw rests on the globe and as the architect said, "announces the peace that Europe has won in the plains of Waterloo".
You can see the whole battlefield from the top of the hillock, which gives a good idea of the square formations of the infantry and where the cavalry was deployed. A panoramic display table indicates the positions defended during different stages of the battle.
Another highlight of the visit is the Panorama, a circular building, recently renovated, where you will admire a masterpiece of the military painting, a spectacular and huge mural painting representing the battle that will make you feel like if you were part of it, surrounded by soldiers, horses and the Emperor himself! The soundtrack with canon balls and cries is also impressive.
British, Dutch and Prussians, forming the Allied armies and gathering 210.000 soldiers, under the command of Wellington and Blücher, fought the Great Army of Napoleon, 125.000 men in total.
12 June 2015: Napoleon leaves Paris after escaping from the island of Elba. Two days later, he has gathered his army and is heading to Brussels. 18 June 2015: Wellington is ready from the early morning: if Blücher helps him, he will attack the French on the plateau of Mont-Saint-Jean, near Waterloo. If he cannot get the support of the Prussian, he will set off to Brussels.
He had chosen Waterloo because of its strategical situation on the road to Brussels. Whatever the cost and the loss would be, the allied armies had to stop Napoleon before he reach this city and before he could enter into the Forêt de Soignes, which starts beyond Waterloo...
The fight started late, around 11:30 a.m., due to poor weather conditions. After several hours of bloody struggle, around 9:00 p.m., Wellington and Blücher met and shook hands: their armies were victorious. Napoleon, protected by his Imperial Guard, was able to escape. The battle of an uncommon violence, was a terrible carnage. The late evening sun set on Apocalypse: early 12,000 soldiers were killed, the groans of thousands of wounded, some of them dying, were rising in the dark. The last of them received help and care only three days later. The corpse of thousands of horses littered the plain out of sight.
In Waterloo, Napoleon and Wellington gave their last fight before walking to their fate: the first would see his downfall and exile, the second an endless glory. But both became mythical, like the site and the name of the city itself.
Soon after the battle of Waterloo, the place where so many people had died, often anonymous bodies, and where the famous French Emperor lost his last fight, began to attract and fascinate an increasing number of visitors.
Inns, taverns and restaurants were built to welcome the tourists.
Waterloo is now a pleasant and flourishing little town with its shops and elegant neighborhood and past seems far away. However, when you will have the battle field at your feet, from the top of the Lion's Mound, you will certainly remember with emotion the thousands of men who lost their life on the tragic 18th June 1815.
Take the trouble to read the passages of "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo dedicated to the Battle of Waterloo, which, if not always of perfect historical accuracy, will plunge you with a shattering realism into the heart of the fight. And don’t miss his beautiful poem "Waterloo, bleak wilderness", a masterpiece of French literature.
Waterloo was a decisive battle on several fronts. It finally put an end to the series of wars that had devastated Europe and had involved many regions in the world since the French Revolution. It also put an end to the First French Empire and to the political and military career of Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the great statesmen and warlords in History. Finally, after this terrible battle, a period of peace of nearly a half-century reigned over Europe, until the outbreak of the Crimean War.
In 2015, why not preparing a nice city trip in Brussels with a visit to Waterloo and on the 18th June, attending one of the major commemoration of the year?

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