Square and the monument to the dead

Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The square and monument to the dead of Lamentin, located on Rue du Square, was erected in 1932 by architect Ali Tur in memory of the soldiers who died during the First World War. The ensemble, inaugurated in 1933 by Mayor Pierre Bouvrat, combines a stele and a concrete obelisk, with a molded Art Deco lettering. This is the first Art Deco-style memorial designed specifically for this type of tribute in Guadeloupe.

This monument is part of a larger urban redevelopment led by Ali Tur after the destructive passage of Hurricane Okeechobee. The square, rectangular, is bordered by public buildings (church, school, town hall) and incorporates royal palm trees in symmetry of concrete poles. The set, registered with historical monuments in 2009 and then ranked in 2017, represents one of the few coherent examples of modernist architecture in the French Antilles.

The cenotaph consists of a central walk and six square concrete poles distributed around a dominant central pole. Its sober monumentality, marked by slender lines and geometric volumes, reflects the influence of the Art Deco movement. The materials (armed beton) and the sommital cross highlight its commemorative function, while integrating into the public space reshaped by Tur.

Ranked since 2017 for its heritage importance, the monument illustrates the post hurricane reconstruction and the adaptation of European architectural forms (such as Art Deco) to the tropical context. Its inclusion in a coherent urban complex, including market and mortuary, makes it a unique testimony to the urban planning of the 1930s in Guadeloupe.

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