NORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY

With a million visitors a year, the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer is one of the most visited sites in France. The immense cemetery covers almost 70 hectares of impeccable lawn and overlooks one of the bloodiest beaches of the D-Day landings, Omaha Beach, where American troops suffered the greatest loss of life.

An autonomous territory under American jurisdiction inaugurated in 1956, Colleville Cemetery is the work of landscape architect Markley Stevenson. It is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), an independent agency founded by the U.S. Congress in 1923. A hymn to the American nation and the heroism of its soldiers, the cemetery features a chapel, a magnificent memorial, a "Garden of the Missing" and no fewer than 9,387 white marble graves, Latin crosses and Stars of David. You’ll notice that the crosses all face west, in the direction of the homeland. This cemetery, like a piece of the United States in France for eternity...

A place of remembrance, but also an enchanting place to stroll, where beauty and serenity reign, the Colleville American Cemetery invites contemplation. Water lily ponds, harmonious fountains, soft lawns, avenues of rare and varied trees, everything evokes peace. Right down to the path that leads to Omaha Beach, so peaceful today...