Aisne Marne Chapel

3D Model

Ralph Adams Cram submitted drawings to the ABMC for this chapel in 1926, it was completed in 1932. The French Romanesque chapel and memorial exists on the front line that was occupied by American Forces during the Aisne-Marne Offensive. The woodland uphill from the memorial is where the battle of Belleau Wood was fought. It saw hand-to-hand combat, poison gas attacks, and onslaughts against machine gun nests for 20 consecutive days. It is one of the few World War I battlegrounds that have not fallen victim to development.

Entering the chapel, you find a gilded altar with three stained-glass windows above it. The images depict St. Michael triumphing over evil, St. Louis the crusader, and St. Denis the patron saint of France. Lining the walls are the names of 1,060 soldiers and Marines lost in this area.