Cimetière dit " cimetière des Oubliés "

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

The asylum of Cadillac, whose origins date back to the 11th century, was transformed in 1617 by the Duke of Epernon to create a hospice. Initially, the sick were buried in the municipal cemetery. During the First World War, the massive arrival of "shell-shocked" casualties forced the municipality to purchase land adjoining the communal cemetery and intended for these new patients. More than 3000 people are buried there. Only the 900 iron crosses installed in the 1950s are still visible. A military section comprises the 98 burials of the "brain-damaged" victims of the Great War who were identified. This cemetery is unique testimony in France to a little-known aspect of psychiatry, namely the treatment reserved for patients and victims of wars who died in asylums. The 116 tombstones or stelae with marble vaults and more elaborate tombs resulting from the investment of families, which had been recorded before restoration, have been preserved.

Description

Of rectangular shape (135m long and 35m wide - 4549 m2), it is surrounded by 4 walls and communicates with the communal cemetery by a rectangular opening in the wall that separates them. A central north-south alley connecting the short sides of the cemetery divides the site into two: to the east, the sections protected as historic monuments. On either side, two parallel walls close off the place. They separate the cemetery from the Unit for Difficult Patients to the east and from the communal cemetery to the west. A door pierced in the centre of the wall ensures the link between the two cemeteries. The central axis is lined with a simple row of elms changing sides at the level of the soldiers' section. On either side, concrete posts with blue enamelled plaques bearing a white number indicate even-numbered rows to the east, odd-numbered to the west. These posts are accompanied by a square steel pot driven into the ground in which the hospital comes to deposit chrysanthemums each year at All Saints' Day. Each row presents a line of approximately 10 metal crosses on concrete base, whose orientation varies without known reason: sometimes facing north, sometimes facing south.