The lion is perhaps England’s most enduring national symbol. They were given as gifts to our Plantagenet Kings to be kept in the Tower of London. From the three identical gold lions worn on the shirt of our national football team to the coins we carry in our pocket. From ‘Richard the Lionheart’ (Richard I), to the stone lions, climbed on and tamed, by generations of children in Trafalgar Square.
But there is another city where lions stand guard. The Ukrainian city Lviv – the ‘City of Lions’. I remember standing in a bookshop in Krakow, picking up a book of that name – thinking it might refer to England and upon opening its pages discovering my mistake. Buying the book anyway, I read of the beauty and fascinating culture of Lviv. A city with a much conflicted past and now, tragically, once again, a much conflicted present.
‘The city with the most lions in the world’ I read now. They are talking of the stone lions of Lviv that can be found on almost every street – some sleeping, some standing guard…
It is true now of the people – the courageous and dignified people of the Ukraine – to whom I send love and strength.
