Le jardin du silence > Czechoslovak Garden of Peace, 2021

Le jardin du silence > Czechoslovak Garden of Peace, 2021

The Czechoslovak Garden of Peace pays tribute to Czech and Slovak soldiers who fought alongside the Triple Accord during World War I. Located next to the French necropolis of “Chestres” which houses 282 bodies of Czechoslovak soldiers and a monument dedicated to these fighters, Le Jardin du silence is an immersive walk that leads the visitor on a journey through a high and narrow trench in the heart of a birch grove. These 282 trees, in homage to the fallen soldiers, create a kind of white mist by the quantity of trunks and branches, which plunges the walker into an atmosphere reminiscent of the feeling of fog which reigned on the battlefield and the blindness. caused by combat gas. Bearers of different symbols, the birch evokes as much the fragility of human existence, through its short life expectancy, as youth and life; it is a bearer of hope. At the edge of the grove, lined with massive lime trees, the density of birch trees decreases and the visitor discovers the landscape. In the garden, the birch trees will die to make way for the lime trees, which are the symbol of the motherland for Slovaks and Czechs. Thousands of snowdrops will be planted in the lawn, under the birch trees, as heralds of the end of the winter during which the Czechoslovak fighters sacrificed their lives.