Memorial des Martyrs de la Deportation

Square de l'Ile-de-France, 7 Quai de l'Archevêché, 75004 Paris, France

This memorial to the 200,000 people deported from Vichy France to the Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War, is on the site of a former morgue and built underground behind Notre Dame. It was designed by French modernist architect Georges-Henri Pingusson and opened in 1962. Pingusson intended that its long and narrow subterranean space convey a feeling of claustrophobia. A narrow chamber containing 200,000 crystals with light shining through are meant to symbolize each of the deportees who died in the concentration camps; at the end of the tunnel is a single bright light. A stark iron gate overlooking the Seine enhances the feeling of entrapment.

More Recommendations

Sobering & Moving Visit to Memorial

This memorial to the 200,000 people deported from Vichy France to the Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War, is on the site of a former morgue and built underground behind Notre Dame. It was designed by French modernist architect Georges-Henri Pingusson and opened in 1962. Pingusson intended that its long and narrow subterranean space convey a feeling of claustrophobia. A narrow chamber containing 200,000 crystals with light shining through are meant to symbolize each of the deportees who died in the concentration camps; at the end of the tunnel is a single bright light. A stark iron gate overlooking the Seine enhances the feeling of entrapment.

Information on this page, including website, location, and opening hours, is subject to have changed since this page was last published. If you would like to report anything that’s inaccurate, let us know at notification@afar.com.

Nearby highlights
Sign up for our newsletter
Join more than a million of the world’s best travelers. Subscribe to the Daily Wander newsletter.
More From AFAR