At the historic Vieux-Château in Menton, France, some exceptional artefacts have been preserved: Polish graves which today bear witness to the fates of emigrants, participants in the struggle for independence and members of the aristocracy who found their way to the Côte d’Azur in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The cemetery is situated on the hill of a former castle and now houses extremely valuable examples of funerary sculpture crafted from marble, granite and local limestone. Among them, several graves stand out in particular, and there is no shortage of interesting features.
Polish graves in Menton, France
The history of Vieux-Château dates back to the early 19th century, although its origins began much earlier. The cemetery was established on Colla Regna hill, where a castle had stood since the 12th century, guarding the coastal town of Menton. Abandoned around 1650, the stronghold became state property after the French Revolution, and in 1807 it was purchased by the town with a view to establishing a new burial ground there. This was a consequence of a Napoleonic decree of 1804 prohibiting the burial of the dead in churches. Stone from the dismantled walls was sold to local residents, thereby financing the construction of further terraces in the cemetery. Work on the cemetery ultimately took almost 70 years! The semi-circular avenues and terraced layout still resemble the layout of the various sections of the former fortifications.
Poles on the Côte d’Azur
In the 19th century, the beautifully situated town of Menton gained fame as a fashionable winter resort frequented by the European elite. Its mild climate attracted people suffering from tuberculosis and other lung ailments. The arrival in the town of large numbers of chronically ill people from across the continent meant that, alongside local residents, visitors from Great Britain, Russia and Germany began to be buried in the local cemetery. The presence of Polish graves in Menton is primarily linked to the wave of emigration following the November and January Uprisings. At that time, many members of the landed gentry and the aristocracy began to leave for the Côte d’Azur, and some of them settled here permanently. They left behind family tombs thousands of kilometres from their homeland.
Feliks Kołyszko and Janina Lewandowska (née Jełowicka)
A special place at Vieux-Château is occupied by the grave of Feliks Kołyszko (1837–1889), a participant in and commander of units during the January Uprising in Lithuania. Following the uprising’s defeat, he emigrated to France, where he spent the final years of his life. His grave serves as a reminder of a generation of Poles forced to leave their homeland after fighting the Russian Empire. If one looks at the graves of our compatriots from a purely aesthetic point of view, the mausoleum of Janina Lewandowska, née Jełowicka (1885–1912), invariably makes the greatest impression. The young landowner came to Menton for treatment for tuberculosis and died here at the age of just 27. Above her tomb stands a marble sculpture of a woman emerging from an open sarcophagus and rising towards the sky, symbolising the resurrection. An interesting fact is that a very similar composition can be seen at Warsaw’s Old Powązki Cemetery. A twin monument adorns the grave of Helena (Lusia) Raciborowska (1881–1899). Why the similarity in design? Both works were created by the Milanese artist Donato Barcaglia, who produced numerous tombstones and monuments commissioned by the European aristocracy.
Polish graves at Vieux-Château in Menton, France
The gravestones in Menton exemplify the high standard of funerary art at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. They were mainly crafted from Italian white marble, granite and local limestone. The decorations include full-relief figures of angels and women, richly carved plinths, chapels inspired by the Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance styles, as well as references to Art Nouveau. The light-coloured stone, magnificent views of the Mediterranean and terraces immersed in the local greenery make the cemetery resemble a kind of sculpture garden. Today, the Vieux-Château cemetery is under the care of the town of Menton and protected by the conservation officer. Although traces of Polish emigrants from nearly 200 years ago are being systematically catalogued by the Society for the Care of Polish Monuments and Historical Graves in France and undergoing conservation, it cannot be denied that many gravestones still require urgent restoration. Nevertheless, the fact that these traces and the memory of the fate of Polish emigrants on the Côte d’Azur are being safeguarded is heartening and offers hope that this tangible testimony to this chapter of our history will be preserved for future generations.
source: tombeauxpolonais.eu, menton-riviera-merveilles.fr, menton.fr
See also: Architecture | Detail | Historic monument | History | Religious architecture | France | Marble | Travel
