Lion of Venice Lion of Venice The Lion of Venice is an ancient bronze winged lion sculpture in the Piazza San Marco of Venice, Italy, which came to symbolize the city — as well as one of its patron saints, St Mark — after its arrival there in the 12th century. The sculpture surmounts one of two large granite columns in the Square, thought to have been erected between 1172 - 1177 during the reign of Doge Sebastiano Ziani or about 1268, bearing ancient symbols of the two patron saints of Venice. The "Lion" sculpture has had a very long and obscure history,
Freedom Square (Kharkiv) Freedom Square (Kharkiv) Freedom Square (, "Plóshcha Svobodý"; , "Plóshchad' Svobódy") in Kharkiv is the 8th largest city-centre square in Europe. Upon the Soviet takeover the square was named Maidan Dzerzhynskoho () in 1926 after Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Bolshevik secret police (the Cheka, precursor to the KGB). It is depicted on maps of Kharkiv of 1938. After the independence of Ukraine it was renamed Freedom Square. During the brief German occupation the name of the square changed twice: in 1942 the square was named German Army Square, and in 1943 Leibstandarte SS Square. The main part of