Lilienstein is a highly distinctive mountain in

Saxon Switzerland Saxon Switzerland (, ) is a hilly climbing area and national park in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is located around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany, adjoining Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic. Toge ...

, in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, southeastern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and was once the site of a Bohemian castle. It is one of the few table mountains on the east of the river

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

and constitutes the symbol of the Saxon Switzerland National Park.

Name

The name is not related to the flower

lily ''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are ...

(German: Lilie) but is probably derived from St. Gilgen or St. Ilgen (earlier names of the mountain were "Ylgenstein" und "Illgenstein"). These names refer to

Saint Giles Saint Giles (, , , , ; 650 - 710), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 7th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly legendary. A ...

Location

The Lilienstein is located 15 km east of

Pirna Pirna (; , ) is a town in Saxony, Germany and capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 37,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a ''Große ...

and 5 km west of

Bad Schandau Bad Schandau (; , ) is a spa town in Germany, in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district of Saxony. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, at the mouth of the valley of the Kirnitzsch and in the ar ...

. It overlooks the river

, which forms a 180° loop around the mountain. The

Königstein Fortress Königstein Fortress (), the "Saxony, Saxon Bastille", is a hilltop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, above the town of Königstein, Saxony, Königstein on the left bank of the River Elbe. It is one of the largest hilltop for ...

is located opposite on the left bank of the river. Mountains of Saxon Switzerland Elbe Sandstone Mountains Königstein, Saxony Rock formations of Saxon Switzerland {{SaxonSwitzerland-geo-stub