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Origin and history

The Legion of Honour Memorial, also known as Pierre Napoleon, is a pyramid-shaped monument erected in Wimereux (Pas-de-Calais). He marked the exact location of the throne of Napoleon I during the first distribution of the crosses of the Legion of Honour on August 16, 1804 at the Camp de Boulogne. This monument, made of marble by Marquise, was designed by architect Henry and sculptor Dorlinger under the impetus of Napoleon III in 1856.

The first version of the monument, inaugurated in 1809, was a simple marble plate sealed on a massif of masonry. Vandalized in 1815 by ultra-royalists, it was restored and re-inaugurated in 1830. In 1856, Napoleon III ordered his reconstruction in the present form: a truncated pyramid placed on a stone base, decorated with engravings representing the ceremony of 1804 and the badges of the Legion of Honour. The monument was classified as historical monuments on 2 April 1943.

The four sides of the stele bear inscriptions and engravings: to the south, the location of the throne and the date of the ceremony in French; in the north, the same Latin text; to the east, a cross of the Legion of Honour; to the west, a representation of the troops around the throne. A commemorative plaque for the bicentenary of the event (2004) was added. Originally surrounded by a wrought iron gate, the monument has seen its environment changed over time, losing its original enclosure.

This memorial recalls a founding event of the Legion of Honour, created by Napoleon I to reward military and civil merit. The 1804 ceremony, organized at the Boulogne camp where the soldiers of the Great Army were gathered, aimed to strengthen the loyalty of the troops before the plans of invasion of England. The monument, owned by the municipality of Wimereux, remains a symbol of this page of French imperial history.

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