Obélisque Auguste Mariette - Boulogne-sur-mer

To mark the bicentenary of the birth of the Egyptologist Mariette Pacha from Boulogne, the city inaugurated a 12 m high obelisk at the foot of the ramparts.

It is a replica of the Luxor obelisk , which was given to France in 1830 and now adorns the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

It is made entirely of marble from the Vallée Heureuse quarries in Rinxent. The obelisk stands at the heart of the new garden and weighs more than 60 tons. The obelisk consists of six pieces of Lunel de Marquise marble and a metal pyramidion on top of the monument and is reproduced identically on a scale of one and a half. The four sides are engraved with the same text as the Concorde obelisk. All the texts are painted.

Willem Vandenameele