The Cimetière des Gonards is the largest

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

on the outskirts of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. It began operations in 1879. The cemetery covers an area of 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 Commonwealth service personnel of both World Wars.
CWGC Cemetery Report, accessed 6 January 2013. 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 Henri Désiré Landru (12 April 1869 – 25 February 1922) () was a French serial killer, nicknamed the Bluebeard of Gambais. He murdered at least seven women in the village of Gambais between December 1915 and January 1919. Landru also kill ...

and Eugène Weidmann are buried here, in unmarked graves.Le cimetière des Gonards
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Notable burials

* Marc Allégret (1900–1973), film director *

Abolhassan Banisadr Seyyed Abolhassan Banisadr ( fa, سید ابوالحسن بنی‌صدر; 22 March 1933 – 9 October 2021) was an Iranian politician, writer, and political dissident. He was the first president of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution aboli ...

(1933–2021), first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran * Louis Bernard (1864–1955), general * Louis Blériot (1872–1936), pioneer aviator * Princess Éléonore-Justine Bonaparte (1832–1905) * Princess Marie-Félix Bonaparte (1859-1882) * Prince Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte, (1815–1881) * Prince Roland Bonaparte (1858–1924) *

Louise Bryant Louise Bryant (December 5, 1885 – January 6, 1936) was an American feminist, political activist, and journalist best known for her sympathetic coverage of Russia and the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution of November 1917. Born Anna ...

(1885–1936), American journalist and author *

Louis Cartier Cartier International SNC, or simply Cartier (; ), is a French high-end luxury goods conglomerate that designs, manufactures, distributes, and sells jewellery, leather goods, and watches. Founded by Louis-François Cartier (1819–1904) in Paris ...

(1875–1942), jeweller, watchmaker * Louis-François Cartier (1819–1904), jeweller *

Hélène Dieudonné Helene or Hélène may refer to: People *Helene (given name), a Greek feminine given name * Helen of Troy, the daughter of Zeus and Leda *Helene, a figure in Greek mythology who was a friend of Aphrodite and helped her seduce Adonis * Helene (A ...

(1884–1980), actress *

Gabriel Monod Gabriel Monod (7 March 1844 – 10 April 1912) was a French historian, the nephew of Adolphe Monod. Biography Born in Ingouville, Seine-Maritime, he was educated at Le Havre then went to Paris to complete his education, lodging with the de Pre ...

(1844–1912), historian *

Robert de Montesquiou Marie Joseph Robert Anatole, comte de Montesquiou-Fézensac (7 March 1855, Paris – 11 December 1921, Menton) was a French aesthete, Symbolist poet, painter, art collector, art interpreter, and dandy. He is reputed to have been the inspira ...

(1855–1921), poet, and Gabriel Yturri (1860–1905), his secretary * Armand Renaud (1836–1895), poet * Georges Saillard (1877–1967), actor * Edith Wharton (1862–1937), American writer

Gallery

File:Versailles Gonards Monument Afrique du Nord.jpg, Monument to the French of North Africa File:Versailles Gonards carré militaire allemand.jpg, German military graves File:Versailles Gonards LA TERRE PROMISE.jpg, Jewish gravestone

References

External links

Le cimetière des Gonards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cimetiere des Gonards Buildings and structures in Yvelines 1879 establishments in France Cemeteries in Île-de-France Tourist attractions in Yvelines Burial sites of the House of Bonaparte