Monument aux héros de l'armée d'Orient et des terres lointaines, square Lieutenant-Danjaume

English translation

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History

In November 1921, the French government gave authorization to erect a national monument in Marseille to the Soldiers of the Orient to commemorate the victims of the French armies who fell far from French soil during the Great War. Gaston Castel, chief architect of the department, was chosen. He proposed with sculptor Antoine Sartorio the plans for a monument forming a portico erected on the rocky promontory facing the sea, as if to recall that Marseille is the gateway to the Orient. The monument was inaugurated on 24 April 1927. It is presented as a massive arch featuring at its centre a crescent and a star, and at the underside decorated with palm leaves. The arch is flanked on either side by full-length figures ensuring the memory of the land army and that of air force combatants. Two female figures with massive wings, applied to the slope of the jambs, represent their heroism. At the centre of the arch, on a plinth, stands Victory in bronze, arms outstretched towards the sky. A staircase descending towards the sea completes the monumentality of the site. The whole is designed in white granite, reinforced concrete and stone.