Monument aux combattants de la Haute-Garonne, War memorial and historical monument in Allées François-Verdier, Toulouse, France.
The Monument to the Fighters of Haute-Garonne occupies a prominent place along Allées François-Verdier and rises with eight tall stone columns arranged toward a pediment. Carved reliefs and inscriptions across the structure name major battlefields and honor those from the region.
The decision to build the memorial was taken in 1919, and a competition opened in late 1920. From about forty submissions the jury chose Camille Raynaud's project, but the city of Toulouse associated Henri-Raphaël Moncassin and André Abbal with the work, supervised by architect Léon Jaussely. Work was not finished before 1928, Raynaud's bas-reliefs were completed only in 1931, and the cost reached 1,349,540 francs. It was listed as a monument historique on 18 October 2018.
The arch carries carved place names such as FLANDRE and SOMME, and a relief panel quotes a text on the return of Alsace-Lorraine, flanked by panels with the letters RF. No soldier's name appears anywhere, since this is a departmental memorial. The monument was moved 35 m back on 31 August 2023 for the François-Verdier metro station of line C.
The memorial stands on the Allées Forain-François-Verdier near the Rue de Metz junction, a short walk from the Saint-Étienne cathedral. It is an open public space, and the monument was moved 35 metres back on 31 August 2023 for work on the future François-Verdier metro station on line C.
In August 2023, engineers relocated the entire structure about 35 meters (115 feet) to make room for the new François-Verdier metro station. This rare feat demonstrated advanced techniques for preserving historical monuments while adapting to urban development.
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