The Inter-allied Memorial at Cointe in Liège

Because of its resistance to the German invasion in August 1914 Liège was presented with the Legion of Honour by the President of the French Republic Raymond Poincaré on 24 July 1919.

In that same year architect Paul Jaspar designed a project of a 90-m “Victory Belfry” to be erected close to the city hall and to the Perron, a symbol representing the freedom of Liège, but this project was never carried out. An international committee asked for the support of the allied countries to erect a monument dedicated to the glory of the allied soldiers on the hill of Cointe in Liège. The “Merode Committee” commissioned Antwerp architect Joseph Smolderen to design a monumental complex comprising the Church of the Sacred Heart and the 75-metre Inter-allied Memorial. The first stone of the church was laid on 21 June 1925 whereas the construction of the civilian monument started in September 1928 to be inaugurated on 20 July 1937.

The “crypt” contains the Franco-Belgian, Romanian and Spanish monuments while the vast esplanade comprises the Italian, Greek, Polish, English and Russian monuments in its hall of pillars. The monumental complex has been listed by the decree of 24 January 2011.

A major ceremony commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War will be held here on 4 August 2014, which will be attended by numerous heads of state and representatives of the former warring parties.