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Photo: JackyM59, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The largest French military cemetery, where more than 45,000 soldiers are buried across 25 hectares of solemn ground. Located on a strategic ridge in northern France, this site was the scene of fierce and deadly fighting during World War I, especially during the Battles of Artois. The cemetery includes the remains of both identified and unknown soldiers, and its central basilica and lantern tower create a powerful symbol of remembrance. Adjacent to the necropolis stands the Ring of Remembrance (L’Anneau de la Mémoire), a monumental memorial that lists the names of 580,000 soldiers of all nationalities who died in northern France—Flanders and Artois—during the First World War. The names are inscribed alphabetically, regardless of nationality, rank, or religion, emphasizing the shared human cost of the conflict. Together, the cemetery and the memorial form one of the most moving sites of remembrance on the Western Front.
Notre Dame de Lorette, also known as Ablain St.-Nazaire French Military Cemetery, is the world's largest French military cemetery. It is the name of a ridge, basilica, and French national cemetery northwest of Arras at the village of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire. The high point of the hump-backed ridge stands 165 metres high and – with Vimy Ridge – utterly dominates the otherwise flat Douai plain and the town of Arras.
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At the foot of the hill of Lorette, in Souchez, in the middle of the old battlefields, a building with an original architecture by Pierre-Louis Faloci, made of black concrete and glass, accommodates the Center d'Histoire du Mémorial. 14-18 Here, emblematic objects, high-quality unpublished photographs, period films and animated maps provide an understanding of the extent of the conflict in Nord Pas-de-Calais during World War I. More than 300 large-scale photographs format, official or anonymously taken by the soldiers, plunge us into the reality of this appalling war. This historical content of the place was prepared by an international scientific committee headed by historian Yves Le Maner.
Of particular interest to Canadians and World War I buffs, the column of limestone surrounded by allegorical figures. Re-dedicated after extensive renovations in 2007, the site is also home to an interpretive centre and two small cemeteries. The whole site is Canadian territory, donated by the French people in recognition of Canada's sacrifices during that war. Walking from Vimy railway station to the monument takes about one hour, and only 2 trains stop there every day, so getting a taxi from Lens or a bus tour from Lille or Arras may be easier if you don't have your own transport.
The railway station, built in the 1920s, an early Art Deco work.