Mémorial de Caen, Caen, France - SpottingHistory.com

The Mémorial de Caen is a museum and war memorial in Caen, commemorating the Second World War and the Battle for Caen. The building and grounds are located in the northern suburbs of the city of Caen on the site of an old blockhouse. The architect was Jacques Millet and the original curator was Yves Degraine.

The memorial is dedicated to the history of violence and intensive, outstanding conflict in the 20th Century and particularly World War II. The museum was officially opened on 6 June 1988 (the 44th anniversary of D day) by the French President François Mitterrand. The original building deals primarily with World War II looking at the causes and course of the conflict.

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User Reviews

Jim C (20 months ago)
This was a very thorough museum with more than enough to do. We could have easily spent more than one day here. But there is so much to do in Normandy. Try going to the movie first, since it can get crowded. The food in the cafeteria was better than expected, so don't be afraid to eat lunch here. Don't forget to go outdoors to the exhibit outside as well.

Tyler Soriano (20 months ago)
Worth it for a great history lesson on the D-Day invasion. Very well put together. Worth every minute. Be prepared to be here close to 3-4 hours before your visit to the site, Omaha Beach. Make sure you grab a little souvinere bottle from the gift shop to collect some sand from the beach to take back home with you.

Asi DeGani (2 years ago)
A very well executed memorial to a time when we were (sadly) all in it together. Both the place and the exhibits work together to make it very clear that we cannot ignore the plight of others. Children may have some hard questions after coming here.

Kevin Marshall (2 years ago)
The museum/memorial was one of the best I've been to. You walk through a timeline of events with artifacts, pictures, and a short film about the times. You will need to spend several hours here to really see everything without rushing through. The whole thing is laid out very well. If you feel a bit hungry or thirsty, there is a bistro and a cafeteria inside. Good coffee and affordable food.

Trisha Trixie Hunter-Merrill (2 years ago)
We arrived here with a day trip tour and barely had a enough time to see everything. A 2 hour walk through we did in 20 minutes. The movie was pretty cool. If you are not from Europe and plan on seeing this place, then bring a bag lunch or be happy with the limited choices for food there is. They "say" there are all these food choices, but there really isn't. The snack bar upstairs only has sandwiches. The other area is for groups and the La Terrase Restaurant doesn't open until after 12 noon of which all the servers sit down and eat before and they won't come to the door to explain even though the door is open. Suggestion. If you are not open, close the door. Looked possibly good, but I will never know. I did not get to see the bunker but I heard it was not a big deal. the souvenir shop has really cool things, but remember you have to figure out how to get that back home to the states and you probably could buy the items online

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Dan Lundberg

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Hagios Demetrios

The Church of Saint Demetrius, or Hagios Demetrios, is the main sanctuary dedicated to Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki. It is part of the site Palaeochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO since 1988.

The first church on the spot was constructed in the early 4th century AD, replacing a Roman bath. A century later, a prefect named Leontios replaced the small oratory with a larger, three-aisled basilica. Repeatedly gutted by fires, the church eventually was reconstructed as a five-aisled basilica in 629–634. This was the surviving form of the church much as it is today. The most important shrine in the city, it was probably larger than the local cathedral. The historic location of the latter is now unknown.

The church had an unusual shrine called the ciborium, a hexagonal, roofed structure at one side of the nave. It was made of or covered with silver. The structure had doors and inside was a couch or bed. Unusually, it did not hold any physical relics of the saint. The ciborium seems to have been a symbolic tomb. It was rebuilt at least once.

The basilica is famous for six extant mosaic panels, dated to the period between the latest reconstruction and the inauguration of the Byzantine Iconoclasm in 730. These mosaics depict St. Demetrius with officials responsible for the restoration of the church (called the founders, ktetors) and with children. An inscription below one of the images glorifies heaven for saving the people of Thessalonica from a pagan Slavic raid in 615.

Thessaloniki became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1430. About 60 years later, during the reign of Bayezid II, the church was converted into a mosque, known as the Kasımiye Camii after the local Ottoman mayor, Cezeri Kasım Pasha. The symbolic tomb however was kept open for Christian veneration. Other magnificent mosaics, recorded as covering the church interior, were lost either during the four centuries when it functioned as a mosque (1493–1912) or in the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 that destroyed much of the city. It also destroyed the roof and upper walls of the church. Black-and-white photographs and good watercolour versions give an idea of the early Byzantine craftsmanship lost during the fire.

Following the Great Fire of 1917, it took decades to restore the church. Tombstones from the city"s Jewish cemetery - destroyed by the Greek and Nazi German authorities - were used as building materials in these restoration efforts in the 1940s. Archeological excavations conducted in the 1930s and 1940s revealed interesting artifacts that may be seen in a museum situated inside the church"s crypt. The excavations also uncovered the ruins of a Roman bath, where St. Demetrius was said to have been held prisoner and executed. A Roman well was also discovered. Scholars believe this is where soldiers dropped the body of St. Demetrius after his execution. After restoration, the church was reconsecrated in 1949.

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