Colonne Marceau, Historical monument in Chartres, France
Colonne Marceau is a four-sided obelisk of Saint-Leu stone on Place Marceau in Chartres, crowned by a funeral urn rather than a point. Its lower shaft carries carved trophies on each face, and the pedestal bears four inscribed cartouches with Marceau's dates and death. A medallion portrait of the general decorates the base.
The column was put up in the year X of the French revolutionary calendar to honor General François Séverin Marceau, born in Chartres. Its stone came from the former church of Saint-Saturnin, where the future general had been baptized and which was demolished in 1793.
The square and the street where Marceau was born, at no. 20, both took his name after the column was inaugurated on 23 September 1801. The four cartouches on the pedestal carry his career and death in the armies of the Revolution, from soldier at sixteen to general at twenty-four.
The place is easy to reach on foot from the old center, and the column stands in an open pedestrian area. You can walk all the way around it, and mornings or late afternoons are usually quieter for a closer look.
In 2015, the monument lost its large stone base during the renovation of the square and was moved eight meters south. That change gave more room to outdoor café tables while leaving the column slightly shifted from its original position.
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