Dormans Memorial Chapel, War memorial and chapel in Dormans, France

The Mémorial des batailles de la Marne stands on the upper slope of Dormans: a pale stone chapel in Neo-Gothic style, 52 metres tall and 117 metres above the Marne. Its gabled facade, flanked by two round turrets with conical roofs, rises to a central spire topped by a cross and a lantern; a square crenellated tower and walls pierced with loopholes give it a military air. A cloister, a lantern of the dead and an ossuary complete the ensemble.

A committee formed in 1919 by the Duchesse d'Estissac, with Cardinal Luçon, Bishop Tissier and Marshal Foch, chose Dormans as the point where the two Marne battles of September 1914 and July 1918 converged. The site was blessed on 18 July 1919 and the first stone laid on 18 July 1920. Architects Alexandre Marcel then Georges Closson designed the chapel, long called Chapelle de la Reconnaissance.

The memorial was long called the "Chapelle de la reconnaissance" or "Chapelle des victoires", and a national subscription, the "Journées des quatre monuments", paid for it. In the upper chapel, statues by Firmin Michelet depict Marshal Foch as Jean de Montmirail and Cardinal Luçon as Saint Remi. The four pillars commemorate the Chevauchée vers Reims, the battle of Poitiers of 732, the two battles of the Marne and the battle of the Catalaunian Fields.

The memorial can be climbed via a staircase of 105 steps, offering views across the Marne Valley. Guided tours are available in French and English, and two exhibition rooms inside can be explored.

The ossuary holds the bones of 1,360 soldiers of all armies, of whom only ten could be identified; a recent plaque lists their names. The crypt also keeps stones engraved with the names of the fallen, behind an iron grille by the art smith Raymond Subes.