At the top of the Allées du Mail, just steps from the casino, an imposing stone-and-bronze monument pays tribute to the people of La Rochelle who fell during the conflicts of the twentieth century. Unveiled on 19 November 1922, the work bears the signatures of sculptor Joachim Costa, founder Alexis Rudier, and architects Charles Bunel and Jean Béraud. A bronze soldier clad in the heavy winter garb of a poilu stands at the centre of a limestone exedra. Leaning on a cane around which a serpent coils, he embodies the resilience of those who returned from the front. At his feet, bronze bas-reliefs present striking portraits of soldiers. The rear of the stele carries the names of the dead from the wars of 1914–1918, 1939–1945, Indochina and Algeria, making this site an open-air place of remembrance.
Activity added by the Oxploria team
