Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Monument to the Dead of the Allies, located Place des Allées in Vesoul (Haute-Saône), was designed by architects Maurice Boutterin, Alfred Landes and Camille Humbaire. Inaugurated in 1925, it commemorates the 271 Vesulians who died during World War I. Its architectural style is inspired by ancient vocabulary, with an exhedral plan, canned columns, funeral urns and inverted victory symbols, evoking the bitterness of a dearly acquired peace. The monument occupies the site of an ancient Autel de la Patria destroyed in 1803, in a green setting including the English garden built in 1863.

The project, costing 132,000 francs, was launched in 1920 by the municipality of Vesoul to honor his dead. Maurice Boutterin, chief architect of civilian buildings, applies a model already used for other regional monuments (Pontarlier, Montbéliard, Besançon). The building, of imposing dimensions (12 × 12 meters), incorporates funeral and military references, such as beams of liters, ram heads, and the word "Pax" engraved in its centre. He spoke with the nearby Mobiles de Haute-Saône Memorial Column (1874), creating a coherent memory set.

Ranked a Historic Monument on December 19, 2022, the monument is now owned by the municipality. Its inscription underlines its heritage and symbolic importance, both for Vesoul and for the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region. The bronze victory palms, fixed upside down, and the names of the great battles recall the sacrifice of the soldiers, while its solemn architecture makes it a major gathering place.

External links