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  2. Patrimoine
  3. Occitanie
  4. Ariège
  5. 09270 Mazères

  6. Monuments to the dead

Monuments to the dead à Mazères dans l'Ariège

Ariège

Monuments to the dead

    1 Boulevard des Comtes de Foix
    09270 Mazères
Photo de Monuments to the dead

Timeline

XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1900
2000
1926
Construction decision
29 juin 1927
Reception of the monument
3 novembre 1927
Official Inauguration
1931
Adding a fence
18 octobre 2018
Historical monument classification
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The monument to the dead, in total, as delimited in red on the attached cadastral plan, located at the crossing of the boulevard des Comtes-de-Foix and the avenue du Maréchal-Foch, section AB (park not cadastral): inscription by order of 18 October 2018.

Key figures

Gustave Violet - Sculptor Author of the monument, veteran.
Prosper - Mayor of Mazères Initiator of the project in 1926.
P. Nicol - 1st deputy mayor Member of the monument committee.
Colonel E. Clanet - 2nd deputy and chair of the committee Supervised the implementation of the project.

Origin and history

The monument to the dead of Mazères, located in Ariège in the Occitanie region, was erected in the 1920s to honour the soldiers of the commune who died during the 20th century conflicts. It consists of a 9.60-metre-high granite portal, with a bronze palm and a hairy statue, also made of bronze. The soldier, represented at rest with his rifle, embodies the memory of the 126 deaths of the First World War, 6 of the Second World War and 1 of the Indochina War, whose names are engraved on the monument.

The project was launched in January 1926, with the choice of sculptor Gustave Violet, already author of monuments to the dead of Perpignan and Barcelona. The total cost of 52,000 francs is partly financed by a public subscription (12,000 francs), the rest being borne by the municipality. The monument was received on 29 June 1927 and inaugurated on 3 November of the same year. A wall and a grid were added in 1931. The monument is listed for historical monuments on October 18, 2018 for its artistic and historical value.

Gustave Violet, a sculptor born in Thuir (Pyrénées-Orientales) in 1873, conceived a work in which the hairy, engulfed in his hood, also symbolizes the difficult conditions of soldiers, a theme he addresses in his publications. Originally planned in Vosges sandstone, the statue is finally made of hammered copper, just like the palm and medallion adorning the portico. The dedication " Mazères to his dead children for France" and the municipal motto "The armed hand to serve you" underline the tribute rendered.

The monument is located at the intersection of the Avenue du Maréchal-Foch and Boulevard des Comtes-de-Foix, in a small square on the Place du 11-Novembre-1918. It is part of a national commemorative wave of the 1920s, marked by similar monuments in most French communes. Its style and composition recall that of Prades (Pyrénées-Orientales), also directed by Violet.

The protected elements include the entire monument, as delimited on the cadastral plane, with its portico, statue, palm and inscriptions. Two wrought iron lamps frame the whole, reinforcing its solemn character. The minutes of receipt of 29 June 1927 and the inauguration of 3 November 1927 mark its completion, after a municipal decision taken in April 1926.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum