Notre Dame de Lorette (), also known as Ablain St.-Nazaire French Military Cemetery, is the world's largest French military cemetery.
The Great War 1914–1918. Retrieved 14 August 2012. It is the name of a ridge,

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...

, and French national cemetery northwest of

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of ...

at the village of

Ablain-Saint-Nazaire Ablain-Saint-Nazaire () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Geography A farming village located 8 miles (12 km) north of Arras, on the D57 road. It was rebuilt after being destroyed during World War I. The Sai ...

. The high point of the hump-backed ridge stands 165 metres high and – with

Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

– utterly dominates the otherwise flat Douai plain and the town of Arras.

Site of four battles

The ground was strategically important during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and was bitterly contested in a series of long and bloody engagements between the opposing French and German armies. It was the focal point of three battles: *

Battle of Arras (1914) The Battle of Arras (also known as the First Battle of Arras, was an attempt by the French Army to outflank the German Army, which was attempting to do the same thing during the " Race to the Sea", the reciprocal attempts by both sides, to e ...

(1–4 October 1914) – an encounter battle during the

Race to the Sea The Race to the Sea (; , ) took place from about 1914 during the First World War, after the Battle of the Frontiers () and the German advance into France. The invasion had been stopped at the First Battle of the Marne and was followed by the ...

First Battle of Artois The First Battle of Artois (17 December 1914 – 13 January 1915) was a battle fought during World War I by the French and German armies on the Western Front. The battle was the first offensive move on the Western Front by either side after the e ...

(17 December 1914 –13 January 1915) – part of a combined attack with the

First Battle of Champagne The First Battle of Champagne (french: 1ère Bataille de Champagne) was fought from 1915 in World War I in the Champagne region of France and was the second offensive by the Allies against the German Empire since mobile warfare had ended afte ...

(20 December 1914 – 17 March 1915) * Second Battle of Artois (9–15 May 1915) – French attack towards

Third Battle of Artois The Third Battle of Artois (25 September – 4 November 1915, also the Loos–Artois Offensive), was fought by the French Tenth Army against the German 6th Army on the Western Front of the First World War. The battle included the Battle of Lo ...

(25 September–15 October 1915) – also known as the Artois–Loos Offensive The Battles of Artois were as costly in French lives as the better-known

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

. As with numerous other sites across France, Notre Dame de Lorette became a national necropolis, sacred ground containing the graves of French and

Colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

fallen as well as an ossuary, containing the bones of those whose names were not marked.

Cemetery and ossuary

In total, the cemetery and ossuary hold the remains of more than 40,000 soldiers, as well as the ashes of many concentration camp victims. The basilica and memorial buildings were designed by the architect

Louis-Marie Cordonnier Louis Marie Cordonnier (July 7, 1854, Haubourdin, Nord – 1940) was a French architect, born in Haubourdin and associated principally with Lille and the French Flanders region. Biography Son of the architect Jean-Baptiste Cordonnier (18 ...

and his son Jacques Cordonnier, and built between 1921 and 1927.

Basilica

A small building was raised in 1727 by the painter

Nicolas Florent Guilbert Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

, who had made a successful pilgrimage to Loreto (Italy), to shelter a statue of the Virgin Mary. It was destroyed in 1794, rebuilt in 1816 and transformed in 1880.

Gallery

File:033 - Notre Dame de Lorette, Souchez, France.JPG, Basilica File:Die erbitterten Kämpfe um Lorettohöhe (PK Martin Herpich München 1915 TPk132).jpg, Second Battle of Artois, 1915 File:Lorrette Cemetery.jpg, Lorette Cemetery

References

External links

Notre-Dame de Lorette

{{DEFAULTSORT:Notre Dame de Lorette Western Front (World War I) Monuments and memorials in the Pas-de-Calais Cemeteries in Pas-de-Calais World War I in the Pas-de-Calais Ossuaries World War I cemeteries in France Conflicts in 1914 Conflicts in 1915 Churches in Pas-de-Calais Tourist attractions in Hauts-de-France Tourist attractions in Pas-de-Calais National cemeteries