Monument aux morts

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

Following the organization of a competition, the war memorial was created by architect Mathieu Forest and sculptor C. Grange, Prix de Rome 1913, native of the commune. The City chose a striking location, at the end of cours Brilliet, at the intersection with cours Romestang and rue Victor-Hugo in order to catch the attention of passers-by and visitors. However, this situation, on a narrow roundabout, is detrimental to it today.

Description

The monument, inaugurated in 1923, comprises a monumental Victory welcoming with open arms those entering the city by cours Brilliet; an inscription addresses them: "Passing stranger, remember. / To the memory and glory of the combatants of the Great War". In front of Victory is sculpted a dead soldier, depicted in his shroud. Soldiers of different branches are figured in low relief (often worn by the weather) all around the pedestal. A soldier carrying a wounded man can recall Aeneas carrying Anchises during the burning of Troy. The trenches and their barbed wire are depicted, a memory of the front for the sculptor, a tank... The reverse reproduces the communiqué written by Jean de Pierrefeu and read by Pétain to the Chamber to announce the armistice in 1918.