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Cointe Hill |
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The International Veteran Congress of the First World War, which took place in Rome in the year 1925, chose Liege as the place where a monumental monument commemorating the cooperation of Allied soldiers and the suffering of peoples during the war 1914-1918 was to be created.
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The monument designed by Joseph Smolderen from Antwerp stand on the Cointe hill, in a place visible from every Liege point. This monument consists of a religious part, or Church of the Sacred Heart, whose construction began on 21 June 1925 year, and the civilian part, or 75-meter tower, which began to appear in September 1928 year. The inauguration of the opening took place on 21 July 1937 year.
In the crypt there are monuments of Belgian, French, Romanian and Spanish soldiers, while on the square surrounded by pillars there are Italian, Greek, Polish, English and Russian monuments. Every August 15, on the the Polish Army Day, Polonia fold the flowers at the Polish monument at Cointe Hill.
For decades, this magnificent monument, exposed to heroes, has grown into the Liege skyline, became one of symbols city. However, the passage of time has strained the structures of both buildings. The civil monument was renovated, there was money for it. The church has been closed for years. There are no funds for renovation. There is a danger that this magnificent monument will share the fate of churches that were demolished or desacralized in Liege. Church of St. Antoni, who ceased to be a place of worship in the 1977 year, today serves as a place of vernissages, the church of St. Cross closed for years (apparently, funds have already been accumulated about 20 million dollars for renovation), the church of St. John the Evangelist, closed due to the threat of collapse. Hundreds of years of history that is not remembered.
Recently, information appeared that the temple will be sold. Among the main buyers are the Dutch millionaire Arthur Paes. Admiring how he restored the Le Fy castle in Esneux, one can hope that the magnificent church on Cointe will also be renovated. However, it will no longer serve as a place of worship, but as a socio-economic or economic-cultural object.
