Country France Canton Vimy Area 11.33 km² Local time Monday 7:19 PM | Arrondissement Arras Population 4,675 (1999) Population (2006)2 4,602 | |
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Weather 18°C, Wind NW at 6 km/h, 48% Humidity | ||
Vimy (/ˈviːmi/ or /ˈvɪmi/; [vimi]) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. It is located 5 kilometers from the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the missing First World War Canadian soldiers with no known grave; the Memorial is also the site of two Canadian cemeteries.
Contents
- Map of 62580 Vimy France
- Geography and history
- Canadian National Vimy Memorial Park
- Town of Vimy
- Twin towns
- References
Map of 62580 Vimy, France
Geography and history
Vimy is a farming town, situated some 10 kilometres (6 miles) north of Arras, at the junction of the D51 and the N17 roads. It is situated on the crest of Vimy Ridge, a prominent feature overlooking the Artois region.
The town was first mentioned in 1183 as Viniarcum and was the scene of much fighting during the fourteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries among the French, English, Dutch and Spanish forces.
The ridge was the scene of fierce fighting in the First World War. Seized by the Germans in 1914, it was the subject of a French assault in 1915. In 1917 the Battle of Vimy Ridge took place southeast of Vimy and was an important battle of the war for Canadian military history. The town was practically destroyed during the fighting in the area.
Canadian National Vimy Memorial Park
Set on the highest point of Vimy Ridge, the Canadian National Vimy Memorial is the largest of Canada's war monuments. In 1922, use of the land for the battlefield park which contains the memorial was granted, in perpetuity, by the French nation to the people of Canada in recognition of Canada's war efforts. 100 hectares (250 acres) of the former Vimy Ridge battlefield is preserved as part of the memorial park which surrounds the monument. The grounds of the site are still honeycombed with wartime tunnels, trenches and craters, closed off for public safety.
The project took designer Walter Seymour Allward 11 years to see built. (The total cost was $1.5 million, which is over $20 million in present terms.) King Edward VIII unveiled it on 26 July 1936 in the presence of French President Albert Lebrun and more than 50,000 Canadian and French veterans and their families. Following an extensive multi-year restoration, Queen Elizabeth II re-dedicated the monument on 9 April 2007 at a ceremony commemorating the 90th anniversary of the battle. A new $10 million visitor centre was completed in 2017, before the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the battle.
The site is maintained by Veterans Affairs Canada. The Vimy Memorial commemorates the missing First World War Canadian soldiers with no known grave; it is one of only two National Historic Sites of Canada located outside of Canada.