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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Saint-Nazaire church of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, built at the beginning of the 16th century by master mason Jacques Le Caron for Charles de Bourbon-Carency, was classified as a historical monument in 1908. It was severely damaged during the fighting of 1915 during the First World War, and its ruins were preserved at the foot of Lorette Hill, an emblematic site of the region's battles.

The commune of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, in the department of Pas-de-Calais, is marked by its tragic history linked to the First World War. Between October 1914 and October 1915, the hill of Lorette, overlooking the mining basin and the Arras plain, was the scene of violent clashes between the French and German armies. The fighting, which resulted in the death of 188,000 soldiers, including 100,000 French soldiers, earned the commune the war cross 1914-1918.

After the war, the site of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Hill was transformed into a national necropolis, inaugurated in 1925, where more than 40,000 soldiers were buried. The chapel, destroyed in 1915, was rebuilt in this necropolis. The Church of Saint-Nazaire, although reduced to the state of ruins, remains a symbol of the resistance and memory of the events that marked this region.

Local heritage also includes elements related to the memory of the Great War, such as the Ring of Memory, a memorial inaugurated in 2014 with the names of 579,620 soldiers dead in the area. These sites, as well as the ruins of the church, attract visitors from around the world, wishing to pay tribute to the victims and discover the history of this territory deeply marked by the conflict.

Prior to the war, Saint-Nazaire Church was a place of worship and assembly for the local community. Its construction in the 16th century reflected the religious architecture of the time, and its classification in 1908 reflected its heritage importance. Today, its ruins, preserved near the necropolis, recall both its religious past and its role in the tragic history of the region.

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