Guided tours, exhibitions, concerts, conferences, etc. Until Sunday evening, it’s the 8th edition of the Spring of the cemeteries “the only national event dedicated exclusively to funerary heritage”, according to the site of the 2023 program. Launched in 2016, this spring like no other has since succeeded in bringing together more than 66 departments and programming more than 300 events. And it allows “to arouse the interest of French people who are not concerned by mourning, to talk about a subject that is mentioned too rarely”, considers Sarah Dumontauthor and founder of happy ending.
The one who also launched the Apéros de la Mort welcomes this “reappropriation of cemeteries”: “In Bologna (Italy), concerts are organized there all summer long. The program is very rich. We meet there to share a moment with the family. It is a great success. And in Les Ulis, graffiti artists have repainted the entrance and brightened up the garbage cans. When, in Brest, sheep help with lawn maintenance, or elsewhere, yoga classes are flourishing there, as are vegetable gardens. “Bringing our cemeteries to life without disrespecting our deceased is also paying homage to our dead in a different way,” says Sarah Dumont. According to her, admiring the architecture of a burial or “walking between the aisles with strollers” is also finally recognizing “our finitude and perhaps in the end being less afraid of what we do not know”. . So between the white tomb of Eddie Barclay and the mysterious “tomb of corks” in Rennes, 20 minutes gives you a tour of the cemeteries of the regions. Those who have talent, those who amaze, those who radiate.
The Miséricorde cemetery, the “Père Lachaise of Nantes”
It is undoubtedly the most emblematic cemetery in Nantes. Nestled since 1793 to the northwest of the city center, the Miséricorde cemetery has acquired its fame thanks to the illustrious deceased who rest there. We thus find large bourgeois families (Graslin, Dobrée), industrialists (Lefèvre-Utile, Cassegrain, etc.), soldiers (Cambronne, Mellinet, etc.), intellectuals and scientists (Laënnec, Mangin, etc.), builders (Pommeraye, Ceineray, etc.), former mayors (Guist’hau, Bellamy, etc.), famous shots of the Resistance (Jost, Fourny, etc.), religious or even the parents of Jules Verne. This is why he is nicknamed the “Nantais Père Lachaise”. But the other particularity of Miséricorde is the beauty of its funerary monuments, which are sometimes spectacular, and its wide alleys lined with cypresses and lime trees. This makes it a popular walking spot for locals.
In Rennes, the mysterious “falls in traffic jams”
It is nicknamed Rennes’ Père-Lachaise. The oldest cemetery in Rennes, the North Cemetery is home to some local celebrities among its 14,000 graves, such as the Oberthur, Pinault and Bessec families. But its most emblematic and intriguing funerary monument is the tomb of Abbé Joseph Thébault, better known as the “tomb of corks”. In very poor condition, the tomb is indeed strewn with dozens of corks and beer caps deposited like offerings. A ritual that has not yet delivered all its mysteries. According to some, people would do it to try to cure their alcoholism.
In Terre-Cabade, Saint Héléna still works miracles
With its large neo-Egyptian columns at the entrance, the old Toulouse cemetery of Terre-Cabade, built in 1840, is worth the detour for its shady alleys and its great men, including recently Just Fontaine, and some funerary monuments in the limit of megalomania. But it is a more humble tomb, covered with ivy and lined with ex-votos, which attracts the (superstitious) crowds. That of Saint Helena. Héléna Soutade of her real name. This teacher, raised by the sisters of the Minimes convent on the death of her parents, died in 1885 at the age of 50. But she rarely finds rest since the people of Toulouse still lend her the gift of making the destiny of their children better or of curing them. This guidance counselor from beyond the grave would also intercede in love affairs. It is said that two doves followed his funeral procession to Terre-Cabade.
In Lyon, Loyasse with the Refuge LPO label
Between the Rhône and the Saône, it is nicknamed the “Lyonnais Père Lachaise”. The Loyasse cemetery, nestled on the hill of Fourvière, is one of the richest in France in terms of funerary heritage. It presents a very large variety of 19th century chapels and monuments, made by great names in sculpture or architecture from Lyon. It is also there that several personalities of the city are buried, such as the former mayor Edouard Herriot, the doctor Amédée Bonnet, Emile Guimet and Pauline Jaricot. In 2017, it also became the first cemetery in France to be labeled Refuge LPO (protective league for birds)
In Richebourg, tribute to Indian soldiers
It is in Richebourg, in Pas-de-Calais, between Lille and Béthune, that the Neuve-Chapelle memorial is located, one of the rare monuments erected in homage to Indian soldiers who died in combat, in France and Belgium. , during the First World War. The place was not chosen at random to build this circular building, adorned with a column flanked by two tigers bearing inscriptions in English, Arabic, Hindi and Gurmukhi which reflect the ethnic diversity present in India. Because if the Indian soldiers were put to contribution from the beginning of the war, it was during the battle of Neuve-Chapelle, in March 1915, that more than 4,000 of them fell on the battlefield. However, the memorial does not include any graves, the vast majority of soldiers having been cremated, while others were buried in Germany where they died in captivity. For the record, the Neuve-Chapelle memorial, designed by the British architect Sir Herbert Baker, was inaugurated in October 1927 by Marshal Foch, Lord Birkenhead, British Secretary of State for India, the Maharajah of Kapurthala and the famous novelist Rudyard Kipling.
The marine cemetery, the identity of Saint-Trop’
Blessed is he who has chosen this place as his last home, by the sea, with a breathtaking view of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. A place so special that it is even listed in tourist guides, along with the famous Church of Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption and its bell tower which make up the identity of Saint-Trop’. The marine cemetery of Saint-Tropez is one of the most unusual places on the Côte d’Azur. Tropezians have been resting in peace here since 1791. Among its occupants are a few celebrities, such as Pierre Bachelet, Roger Vadim, and, of course, Eddie Barclay, whose all-white tomb is adorned with vinyl records.
The cemetery of the Château witness to the history of Nice
It is not for nothing that the cemetery of the Château figures prominently among the “activities” to be enjoyed in Nice, according to TripAdvisor. Built in 1783 on the hill that the Phocaean Greeks had themselves chosen to found, several millennia ago, the Ancient Nikaïa, the place of meditation is a witness to the history of the city. With a breathtaking view, from the sea to the mountains. The graves of many personalities from Nice, including that of the writer Louis Nucéra, appear in the list of 2,351 funeral sites listed by the municipality. René Goscinny, one of Asterix’s two fathers, director Georges Lautner and jeweler Alfred Van Cleef are also buried there. The cemetery also hosts a memorial to the victims of the tragic fire at the Nice Opera, which occurred just before a performance on March 23, 1881. That day, nearly a hundred people lost their lives.
“Bringing our cemeteries to life is to put an end to the anguish of death”, continues Sarah Dumont, before mentioning these places “of appeasement, these islands of freshness and biodiversity”. “We tend to protect children from death, to be in denial. We refuse to rub shoulders with her when she is everywhere, in all the TV series. Finding yourself there between different generations is also an opportunity to talk about it more calmly, to learn more, to better understand it”, concludes the author who preaches for cemeteries to become “nice places of life “.