THIONVILLE SE DÉCOUVRE

Stone after stone, the Thionville inhabitants are rebuilding their Altar of the Fatherland. It has been hiding for years in the great Saint-François cemetery. He patiently awaited his rebirth and his return in glory. He saw things, he could testify! In 1792, the City built him to replace his little wooden brother. It had become far too fragile in the face of the bad weather in the East and human cruelty. Today, he is the only one left. All the other towns lost their precious altars under the blows of Napoleon's soldiers. His flamboyant eye, a Masonic symbol sculpted on the top of the obelisk, observes. The Thionville inhabitants feast. They get married. They baptize. They are all around him in a parade of songs, laughter and joy. Yet the altar was born in the midst of the Revolution. Don't they say that heads fell, that churches were looted? But the inhabitants are happy. The altar of the Fatherland is laughing with them. It has stories to tell! About his neighbours, too: the belfry, St. Maximin's church, the flea tower.