Notice to visitors to the Canadian National Vimy Memorial Site

Important Visitor Information

The monument at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France is almost 70 years old. The passage of time, wear and tear and harsh weather conditions have led to the monument's deterioration, despite regular upkeep over the years. Its restoration requires more than routine maintenance. The rehabilitation plan for Vimy Memorial is part of the Canadian Battlefield Memorials Restoration Project, directed by Canada's Department of Veterans Affairs in cooperation with other Canadian departments, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, consultants and specialists in military history.

The 13 Canadian First World War battlefield memorials are accordingly undergoing repair and restoration work, which started in the fall of 2001 and has already been completed in many cases. The rehabilitation and restoration of the Vimy Memorial started in December 2004 and is slated for completion in 2006. Furthermore, as the Memorial has been designated a national historic site of Canada, the work will also respect the historical and cultural integrity of the original monument design by the artist and architect, Walter S. Allward.

Starting in January 2005, the monument itself will therefore become inaccessible for public safety reasons. However, the rest of the Memorial site will continue to operate normally, including the guided tours, and visitors are therefore invited to focus on the subways or tunnels and restored trenches.

Moreover, while the monument is inaccessible, there will be guided tours of the two Canadian cemeteries on the site. Alternate experiences may also be offered to visitors from 2005 to 2006.

Restoration updates will be provided on this site as they become available.

Contact Information at Vimy, in France:
Vimy Ridge National Historic Site of Canada
62580 VIMY, FRANCE
03 21 50 68 68
Fax: 03 21 58 58 34
E-mail: Vimy.Memorial@vac-acc.gc.ca

• Map of Vimy Memorial
• Fast Facts
• How Do I Get There?
• Design and Construction
• Vimy Ridge Memorial Tour (QTVR)
• Grange Tunnel Image Map
• Vimy Memorial and Trenches (QTVR)
• Vimy Interpretive Centre
• History of the Battle of Vimy Ridge
• Vimy Memorial Receives Canadian National Historic Site Designation
• Student Guide Program in France

Click on picture for larger image. (66 K)

Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Canadian National Vimy Memorial which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of Arras. The Memorial does more than mark the site of the engagement that Canadians were to remember with more pride than any other operation of the First World War. It stands as a tribute to all who served their country in battle in that four-year struggle and particularly to those who gave their lives. At the base of the Memorial, these words appear in French and in English:

Inscribed on the ramparts of the Memorial are the names of 11,285 Canadian soldiers who were posted as "missing, presumed dead" in France.

The land for the battlefield park, 91.18 hectares (250 acres) in extent, was (as stated on a plaque at the entrance to the Memorial) "the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada". Eleven thousand tonnes of concrete and masonry were required for the base of the Memorial and 5,500 tonnes of "trau" stone were brought from Yugoslavia for the pylons and the sculptured figures. Construction of the massive work began in 1925 and 11 years later, on July 26, 1936, King Edward VIII unveiled the monument.

Click on picture for larger image. (66 K)

Horticultural experts created the park surrounding the Memorial. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of our country. Around the Memorial, beyond the grassy slopes of the approaches, are wooded parklands. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced the Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was made.