The best walks and hikes around Ablain-Saint-Nazaire

This cemetery contains the remains of more than ten thousand soldiers who died during the First World War on the front lines in Artois and French-Belgian Flanders. This location is one of 139 cemeteries and memorials from the First World War on the Western Front that were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2023.

Located next to the largest French military cemetery in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, the Musée Notre-Dame-de-Lorette offers a compelling glimpse into the First World War. This compact museum displays more than 3,000 original objects—from uniforms and weapons to soldiers' personal belongings—that together paint a tangible picture of life at the front. Life-size reconstructions of trenches and underground shelters, enhanced with sound effects, bring the stark reality of war closer. Its location on the former battlefield and its immediate proximity to the necropolis make the museum an intense yet understated place of remembrance, where history and commemoration seamlessly intertwine.

The ruins of the old church of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire are an impressive and symbolic remnant of the First World War. Built in the 16th century in flamboyant Gothic style by Jacques Le Caron, this church was badly damaged during the fighting in 1915. The ruins have been preserved as a monument to commemorate the horrors of war.

A remarkable story about the ruins concerns the decision not to rebuild the church after the war. Although the church had been classified as a historical monument in 1908, the Commission for Historical Monuments decided that the ruins should remain as a testimony to the German destruction. Ironically, it was the French guns that had destroyed the church, but the ruins became a symbol of the war and the reconstruction.

The Nécropole nationale de Notre-Dame-de-Lorette is one of the largest and most impressive military cemeteries in France. Situated on a hill in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, this cemetery contains the graves of more than 42,000 soldiers who died during the First World War. The cemetery was inaugurated in 1925 and includes a basilica, a tower-lantern and a museum.

The Anneau de la Mémoire is an impressive monument commemorating the 576,606 soldiers of forty different nationalities who died in Nord-Pas-de-Calais during the First World War. The monument was designed by Philippe Prost and was unveiled on 11 November 2014, the 96th anniversary of Armistice Day. It consists of 500 metal panels, each approximately 3 metres high, arranged in an elliptical shape. The names of the soldiers are listed alphabetically, without distinction of rank or nationality.

Departure point for the Notre Dame de Lorette hike

A superb monument commemorating the centenary of the Great War. It features nearly 500,000 names engraved in alphabetical order. Without distinction of rank, they come from soldiers of some forty different nationalities, all of whom fell on the front lines of Nord-Pas-de-Calais between 1914 and 1918.