Ablain St-Nazaire Lantern Tower by @Thorvald (El Thorvaldo)

The Lantern Tower at Ablain St-Nazaire Military Cemetery, France. The tower was part of Louis-Marie Cordonnier's 1921 redesign of the site after its destruction in battle during the First World War. It stands 52 metres tall with 200 steps; at night a rotating beacon shines up to 70 kilometres.

The base of the tower accesses one of the cemetery's eight ossuaries, containing 32 coffins and the remains of 6000 soldiers, including an unknown soldier of the Second World War (laid to rest July 1950), Algerian War (laid to rest October 1977), and First Indochina War (laid to rest June 1980). A reliquary was added in 1955, containing ashes from victims of the WWII concentration camps.

Each face of the tower features a commemorative inscription that reads as follows:

A NOS GLORIEUX MORTS
DES CHAMPS DE BATAILLE
DE L'ARTOIS ET DES FLANDRES

VOUS QUI PASSEZ, EN PELERINS PRES DE LEURS TOMBES
GRAVISSANT LEUR CALVAIRE ET SES SANGLANTS CHEMINS
ECOUTEZ LA CLAMEUR QUI SORT DES HECATOMBES
PEUPLES, SOYEZ UNIS; HOMMES, SOYEZ HUMAINS!

C'EST LA LAMPE ATTENTIVE A GARDER LEUR MEMOIRE
CONTRE LA NUIT QUI TOMBE, OUBLIEUSE, DESSUS;
LE PHARE QUI S'ALLUME AUX RAYONS DE LEUR GLOIRE
ET MET AU CIEL DE FRANCE UNE ETOILE DE PLUS!

OSSEMENTS QU'ANIMAIT UN FIER SOUFFLE NAGUERE
MEMBRES EPARS, DEBRIS SANS NOM, HUMAIN CHAOS,
PELE-MELE SACRE D'UN VASTE RELIQUAIRE,
DIEU VOUS RECONNAITRA, POUSSIERE DE HEROS!

"To our glorious dead of the battlefields of Artois and Flanders

You who pass, in pilgrimage near their graves, climbing their Calvary and its bloody roads: listen to the clamour that rises from the slaughter. Peoples, be united; men, be human!

This is the attentive lamp to guard their memory against the falling night, forgetful, upon it; the lighthouse that shines the rays of their glory puts in the sky of France one more star!

Bones that animated a proud breath before, scattered limbs, debris without name, human chaos, sacred pell-mell of a vast reliquary, God will recognize you, dust of heroes!"

Original photo taken March 2007. Submitted to Buzzly.art November 2021; reuploaded to DeviantArt February 2022.