NEW // From the housing estate via the climbs to the Père Marquette stele
Description
A little-known piece of history in Laon: the construction of a housing estate in Laon in the mid-1950s to accommodate 200 American families stationed at the nearby US Air Force base at Couvron.
This housing estate, known as "Marquette-sous-Laon" or "Cité Marquette", was built in 1956. But why this name?
Quite simply to pay tribute to a figure who left his mark on the history of both countries, Jacques Marquette.
Born in Laon in 1637, he became a Jesuit priest and went to "New France" as a missionary, where he and his travelling companion Louis Jolliet discovered the source of the Mississippi River in 1673...
And so it was that he became one of the leading figures in the young history of America, celebrated as he should be every year on 1st June - the day of his birth - with Marquette Day.
So it was only natural that the authorities of the time chose this name to embody Franco-American friendship over the centuries.
And it's just as natural that this tour will take you from the lower town, where the Marquette district still stands, to the upper part of Laon, where a Marquette stele is enthroned. So let's get going and follow in the footsteps of the most American of Laon's inhabitants!
Technical Information
Altimetric profile
Starting point
Points of interest
Former Montreuil Abbey
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.
Monument to the aviator Quellenec in Laon
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...
Stele in the Marquette housing estate in Laon
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!
Father Marquette Square
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"
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