From the housing estate via the climbs to the Père Marquette stele

All that remains of this abbey of Cistercian nuns, established in 1651 on the site of a medieval leprosarium, is the 12th-century chapel, the entrance portal and the facade and roofs of the fine building constructed in the 17th century, the abbey having been badly damaged by Allied bombing in 1944. It is now home to the Office Public de l'Habitat de l'Aisne (OPAL), and the chapel is listed as a Historic Monument.

On 31 March 1916, the two-seater Nieuport X flown by Sergeant Frédéric Quellenec crashed here, shot down by German flak. Quellenec and his co-pilot Jean Alexandre Moinier died in the crash. This stele, built after the First World War, commemorates this tragic episode...

When this residential area was inaugurated in 1956, the Americans put a plaque on this stele to celebrate the event (it has now disappeared). It is reported that it was unveiled by "(...) Colonel Aring, [who] after the customary ringing of the bells by the American band, uncovered the stele on which was affixed a plaque reading 'Marquette-sous-Laon'". Made up of typically American houses - single-storey, with unfenced lawns and all the modern comforts of the time - this new district was intended to help alleviate the housing crisis in Laon at the end of the fifties. As you stroll along the streets, keep an eye out for the odonymy (street names) of the area: Rue de la Nouvelle France, Rue du Miissouri and Rue du Québec will accompany you!

This square is home to the stele representing Père Marquette, which was originally created to commemorate the tercentenary of his birth in 1937. It originally stood on the western side of the town, near the Porte de Soissons, and was moved to this location in 2005. At its base is this quotation: "A JACQUES MARQUETTE GREAT MISSIONARY AND PIONEER OF CIVILISATION BORN IN LAON ON 1 JUNE 1637 DIED IN CANADA ON 18 MAY 1675 HIS COMPATRIOTS - HIS ADMIRERS "HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THE SUN, FRENCHMAN, WHEN YOU COME TO VISIT US". HIAWATHA"