nécropole nationale française de notre-dame de lorette

Notre Dame de Lorette is a wonderful place to visit. You have the cemetery, church, and now the memorial to the 580,000 people, of all nationalities who died in Nord-Pas de Calais during World War I. The view of the surrounding area is spectacular as well. There is no entrance fees. After visiting here, take the time to drive down the hill to Saint Lazaire and then Mont Eloi where there are church ruins.

The Notre Dame de Lorette is the largest French Military cemetery, although it may not first look it when you arrive. Nevertheless, it is a somber place worth a visit. At the church and the tower with the eternal flame there will be men to great you at the door. They are not guards, as we thought, but part of a volunteer organization to greet visitors, especially families of the dead. They were quite pleased when they heard that we were from the United States. I imagine they don't get as many US visitors. The church is neo-Bizintine, with mosaics and stained glass that celebrates the French victory in the war. It is not part of a well known battle and is a little out of the way, but would make a good stop if you are visiting Vimy Ridge or Arras. The cafe next to the cemetery serves a good fixed price lunch.

First visited the place about ten years ago when it was in a state of disrepair by what can only be described as neglect. We were the only visitors which was a shame. Over the intervening years it remained in a similar state but last year they had begun to renovate it. This year its about there to be a true monument to those that perished in the area and now when we visited I was pleased to see large numbers of people showing their respects. The Church mosaic is very detailed and the necropolis / mausoleum quite moving. There is an interesting museum nearby and the new wall with the names of those that died in the area on it. I personally found this a bit gimmicky being an attempt to copy the American Vietnam Wall and and would have preferred to see the money spent on finishing the renovation of the actual cemetery

This is a large cemetery that sits on part of the Vimy Ridge which was a heavily fought for location during the Great War. The crosses are laid out in strict lines as most of the cemeteries in the area and the position commands views over the lower areas. On the approach look out for the ruins of a church? that still bears shrapnel and bullet damage as a reminder of what took place in the area during the 1914-18 conflict.

This cemetery is situated on a ridge, similar to Vimy Ridge and also heavily fought over. The memorial and Basilica is visible from the surrounding area and whilst it is a little trick to find, it is well woirth the time taken.The Basilcia is exquisite inside and the rows of french crosses show how g=hard their troops fought.This is the largest French Military Cemetery in the world. The cemetery & ossuary hold the remains of 40,000 French soldiers as well as the ashes of many, many concentration camp victims from WW2. There are just 6 graves of French soldiers from WW2 as well as unknown French soldiers from Indo-China and North Africa.The ‘Honour Guards’ are volunteers who retain the memory of those who died and are representatives of the families of those commemorated here.

more then 30 00 french soldiers for a hill side in the 1914- 1918 war; terrible and a very impressive remembrance side with a beautiful church , a very interesting MUSEUM and a nice restaurant.The new circular monument will be"" officially"" opened the 11th nov 2014

The scale of this place really brings home the horror of war. We found it very moving and the trenches next door were so interesting.. I took some brilliant pictures for my students at school, especially the ones which show how close the two sets of trenches were.

We stopped off here on the way to Vimy on the anniversary of the Battle of Arras.The action here was part of the same series of attacks. Since a visit a few years ago there has been a lot of work on the approach from the main D937 and A26.The rows of crosses, often doubled is very sobering.

I was on a coach tour of www1 battlefields. We arrived at Notre-Dame de Lorette at about 5:15pm. As we walked towards the gate it was closed by a couple of very officious gentlemen. They implied it was too late to go in. As far as I know the closing time is 6:00pm at the earliest. These men then went to the pub. An extremely disappointing experience and totally unnecessary.

Very respectful and the veterans were full of Information and very proud of their Service, they wanted the visitors to understand the Monument and what it means

I missed the trench system which lies behind the museum and café but the real object of the visit is to appreciate that the French suffered enormous losses too. Not too keen on Byzantine architecture but the inside of the church contains names covering all the walls. How were they chosen? Note too the memorial to Louise de Bettignes. She is worth googling.Didnt have time to find muslim graves.I was really impressed by the sepulchre under the massive tower where 6 unknown soldiers are guarded by veterans.In the room above are pictures showing the collecting together of the bodies of the dead.

Though Vimy's memorial to the Canadians wins in a contest of scale and grandeur, Notre Dame is my favourite site. For starters, there is no separation of the graves, cathedral and ossuary from the more experiential area of the battlefield. Their battlefield recreation site is essentially unsanitized, with rusting guns as you enter and progressing to some opposing trenches the further you go. For a single Euro, it was an excellent price. The sheep that graze in the area do leave... ahem... evidence of their presence, but it also means the grass is unkempt, lending to some excellent photographic moments where water, muddy ditches, real wooden duckboards, wild grasses and flowers all blend together as they might have with the most obvious trappings of war. The cathedral itself is splendidly done, with names carved on all its walls and surrounded by the graves of the many French soldiers who did in the area in 1914-16, prior to the British occupying the sector. The ossuary is also interesting, with several levels of unknown soldiers' caskets representing different French wars. Finally, it has a proper and licensed café, which is nice since after an hour or two, one gets thirsty and hungry!

Large and moving cemetery to commemorate over 42000 French soldiers. Beautifully kept grounds and gardens provided a fitting tribute to the dead. On a hill with views all around. Small cafe/restaurant on site.

We stumbled on the site accidentally, they are building a couple of museums and monuments near here so there is a lot of building work going on at present. The ossuary is moving and the church is beautiful, the cemetary is very different from the British with crosses instead of the Portland stone. It is huge and well worth a visit if you are interested in the World War one sites. There is a museum (paying) and a restaurant nearby. The site it looked after by a group of volunteers, identifiable by their armbands. Unfortunately it is not very accessible for wheelchairs, although the church is ramped.

Otherwise known as the "dead city" this really reminded me of the Flanders Field Poem because the crosses here do stand "row by row" (minus the poppies). As well as the site of at least two mass graves there is also a lantern monument and another in which is contained a number of coffins. Very moving.