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War memorial on Île du Souvenir

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A view of the cenotaph.

The war memorial on Île du Souvenir is a war memorial dedicated to the victims of World War I, located on Île du Souvenir (or Île aux Cygnes) in the Parc de la Tête-d'Or in Lyon, France.

Architect Tony Garnier designed it and sculptors Jean-Baptiste Larrivé (cenotaph), Louis Bertola (bas-reliefs of Le Départ and La Guerre), and Claude Grange (bas-reliefs of La Paix and La Victoire) also contributed to the work.

History

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Cenotaph of Jean-Baptiste and Auguste Larrivé

The city of Lyon launched a competition for a new war memorial in December 1920. The result of the first round was the selection of ten projects, five of which were proposals by Tony Garnier. His project "Athéna", a huge temple with a double colonnade on the hill of La Croix-Rousse, won the competition in the second round. However, this project was abandoned because it was too expensive. The winner was the "Philae" project, the result of a collaboration with Jean-Baptiste Larrivé.[1]

The ensemble has been the subject of several redesigns: an initial group of six columns, each with a statue at the top, was replaced in 1922 by two fluted shafts rising from the water, which were also abandoned. Similarly, the project called for a perimeter wall with a frieze topped by colonnettes with a garland of plants, and stairs at the rear of the cenotaph - overly ambitious features that were never built.[1]

Tony Garnier worked with sculptors Jean-Baptiste Larrivé for the cenotaph and Louis Bertola and Claude Grange for the bas-reliefs. The island itself was created and landscaped between 1924 and 1930.[2]

Description

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The inspiration for this project was Arnold Böcklin's[3] painting Isle of the Dead. It is composed of a central piece, a cenotaph, which represents six bearers of a tombstone, wrapped in a shroud. It is a tribute to the 10,600 Lyonnais who died fighting for France in World War I. After Jean-Baptiste Larrivé died, his brother Auguste Larrivé finished the work.

Four bas-reliefs were created by Louis Bertola (Le Départ and La Guerre) and Claude Grange (La Paix and La Victoire).[4] The monument was built from blocks of stone taken from the quarries of Cruchaud (Buxy) and Goulot (Montagny-lès-Buxy).[5]

Conservation

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Plaque Heritage of the 20th century.

Listed as a historical monument since 4 November 1982,[6] the building is part of the Parc de la Tête-d'Or pak complex, which, in addition to the war memorial, includes:

  • The main gate with its columns (Porte des Enfants du Rhône, Place du Général-Leclerc).
  • The Montgolfier Gate (Avenue Verguin).
  • The Camellia and Pandanus greenhouses.

On 10 March 2003 the building was awarded the label "Heritage of the 20th Century".[7] A plaque commemorating this label has been placed nearby since November 2004.

Renovation

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In 2013, the monument was renovated and cleaned so that the 10,600 names inscribed on the cenotaph could be read (which was no longer possible).[8][9] The island was closed for several years in a row, but after renovation, it was reopened to the public in early 2017.[10]

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References

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  1. ^ a b Guiheux & Cinqualbre (1989, p. 65)
  2. ^ "Ile du Souvenir". Les rues de Lyon (in French). 2016-10-19.
  3. ^ "Dans les pas de Tony Garnier | Ville de Lyon". www.lyon.fr (in French).
  4. ^ Dufieux (2007, p. 47)
  5. ^ Cadieu-Dumont, Céline (2018). Aux morts pour la patrie : les monuments aux morts de la Première Guerre mondiale dans les communes du Rhône et de la Métropole de Lyon (in French). ISBN 9782910865252.
  6. ^ "Parc de la Tête-d'Or". POP : la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine (in French).
  7. ^ "Label patrimoine du XXe siècle Région Rhône-Alpes" (PDF). Ministère de la Culture (in French).
  8. ^ "Le monument aux morts de Tony Garnier fraîchement rénové sur l'île du Souvenir". www.leprogres.fr (in French). 2013.
  9. ^ Blanchard, Lucie (2013-11-08). "Commémoration du 11 novembre : le monument aux morts rénové". Lyon Capitale (in French).
  10. ^ "lyon - environnement. Rénovation de l'île du Souvenir : des arbres vont tomber" (in French). 2017.

See also

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Bibliography

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  • Dufieux, Philippe (2007). Sculpteurs et architectes à Lyon (1910-1960) : De Tony Garnier à Louis Bertola (in French). Lyon: Mémoire activee. ISBN 9782908185614.
  • Guiheux, Alain; Cinqualbre, Olivier (1989). Tony Garnier : L'œuvre complète (in French). Centre Georges Pompidou. pp. 204–205. ISBN 9782858505272.