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Cimetière des Gonards

Coordinates: 48°47′29″N 2°8′17″E / 48.79139°N 2.13806°E / 48.79139; 2.13806
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Cimetière des Gonards
Map
Details
Established1879
Location
CountryFrance
Coordinates48°47′29″N 2°8′17″E / 48.79139°N 2.13806°E / 48.79139; 2.13806
Typegarden cemetery
Size13 hectares (32 acres)
No. of graves12,000
WebsiteOfficial website
Find a GraveCimetière des Gonards

The Cimetière des Gonards (French pronunciation: [simtjɛʁ de ɡɔnaʁ]) is the largest cemetery in Versailles on the outskirts of Paris. It began operations in 1879. The cemetery covers an area of 13 hectares (32 acres) and contains more than 12,000 graves.

Description

This is a rurally landscaped cemetery, the upper part of which is laid out with walks and planted with trees. The Devos-Logie and Mirand-Devos Chapels were designed by the architect Hector Guimard in 1894.

There is a section for military graves, including 534 German military graves from the two World Wars, marked by a monument and stelae of pink granite, and a war graves section containing the graves of 181 British Commonwealth service personnel of both World Wars.[1] In the highest part is a monument to those French service personnel who are buried in the graveyards of North Africa.

The cemetery also contains a Jewish area (sections "L sud" and "L ouest"), and many English and American Protestant burials.

The notorious executed murderers Henri Désiré Landru and Eugène Weidmann are buried here, in unmarked graves.[2]

Notable burials

Grave of Edith Wharton.

References

  1. ^ [1] CWGC Cemetery Report, accessed 6 January 2013.
  2. ^ Le cimetière des Gonards