The Vercingetorix Monument () is a statuary monument dedicated to the

Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ...

chieftain

Vercingetorix Vercingetorix (; ; – 46 BC) was a Gauls, Gallic king and chieftain of the Arverni tribe who united the Gauls in a failed revolt against Roman Republic, Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. After surrendering to C ...

, defeated by

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

in the

Gallic Wars The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, and Switzerland). Gauls, Gallic, Germanic peoples, Germanic, and Celtic Britons, Brittonic trib ...

. The monument was designed by

Aimé Millet Aimé Millet (September 28, 1819 – January 14, 1891) was a French sculptor who was a professor at the École des Arts décoratifs. Biography Born in Paris, Millet was the son of miniaturist Frédéric Millet (1796–1859) and uncle to Chica ...

and constructed in 1865. It is designated as a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

''. The monument was commissioned by

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

from the sculptor

and installed in 1865 on Mont Auxois, near

Alise-Sainte-Reine Alise-Sainte-Reine () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Geography Alise-Sainte-Reine is located some 17 km southeast of Montbard and 50 km northwest of Dijon. The D905 ...

in the

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or () is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.

department in the

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

region of eastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The site was the supposed site of Alesia. The architect for the memorial was

Eugène Viollet-le-Duc Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author, famous for his restoration of the most prominent medieval landmarks in France. His major restoration projects included Notre-Dame de Paris, ...

.Statue of Vercingetorix
''Art and Architecture'', 2006 The base has a nationalistic inscription installed by Viollet-le-Duc, translating into French the words of Julius Caesar:

La Gaule unie Formant une seule nation Animée d'un même esprit, Peut défier l'Univers. (Gaul united, Forming a single nation Animated by a common spirit, Can defy the Universe.)

File:Alise-Sainte-Reine_statue_Vercingetorix_par_Millet_2.jpg, Monument from afar File:Alise-Sainte-Reine_statue_Vercingetorix_par_Millet_2crop.jpg, Statue atop monument

References

See also