Monument La Victoire - Dunkirk

The Victory Column was inaugurated on 9 September 1893 to mark the centenary of the end of the Siege of Dunkirk , in which the English forces of the Duke of York were defeated at the Battle of Hondschoote in 1793.

This column bears the motto awarded in 1793 by the Comité de salut public: "Dunkerque a bien mérité de la Patrie".

This work by the Dunkirk architect Jules Lecocq consists of a stone base supporting a Doric column topped by a bronze Victory. It was sculpted by Édouard Lormier and cast by Maurice de Nonvilliers. The top of the column is decorated with a barefoot Victory. The triumphant angel , made of bronze, holds a downed sword in his left hand and a laurel wreath in the other1.

A bas-relief, also by Lormier, shows the mayor of Dunkirk, Emmery, handing over the city's fortifications and defences to General Joseph Souham.

Willem Vandenameele