Foch Square

You’re now standing in Foch Square, one of the most moving places in Royan, as it’s one of the few surviving witnesses to the city’s prewar past. Its very name holds a story: once called Acacias Square, it was renamed in honor of Marshal Foch after the First World War. In front of you stands the war memorial, the work of Bordeaux sculptor Gaston Leroux, a professor at the School of Fine Arts. Inaugurated on November 1, 1921, by Mayor Charles Torchut, the monument has a special history, it was funded entirely through a public subscription launched as soon as the Armistice was announced. During the war, Royan became a strategic support base, with six makeshift hospitals set up in the casinos and grand hotels of the resort. When the bombings of January and April 1945 destroyed 85% of the city, this monument survived unscathed, becoming the only authentic remnant of old Royan.