Notre Dame de Lorette

Did You Know?

• The basilica and memorial buildings were designed by architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier and his son Jacques Cordonnier, built between 1921 and 1927.
• The cemetery and ossuary also hold the ashes of many concentration camp victims.

Site of four battles

The ridge was strategically important during the First World War and saw a series of long and bloody engagements between French and German armies. It was the focal point of the Battle of Arras (1914) from 1 to 4 October 1914, an encounter battle during the Race to the Sea; the First Battle of Artois from 17 December 1914 to 13 January 1915; the Second Battle of Artois from 9 to 15 May 1915; and the Third Battle of Artois from 25 September to 15 October 1915, also known as the Artois–Loos Offensive. The Battles of Artois were as costly in French lives as the better-known Battle of Verdun. The site became a national necropolis containing graves of French and Colonial fallen, as well as an ossuary for those whose names were not marked.

Lantern Tower

The tower, also by Cordonnier, is 52 meters tall and uses reinforced concrete faced with reconstructed stone to look like limestone. Its design and function recall the Pharos of Alexandria, featuring an eternal flame in the upper lantern. On the ground floor are 32 visible coffins of unknown soldiers from France and its colonies, while a small museum sits on the first floor. Its hilltop height makes it visible for 70 kilometers.