Ablain-Saint-Nazaire Church Ruins

As a farming village located 8 miles north of Arras in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Ablain-Saint-Nazaire was almost completely destroyed during World War I. But the horrors of the war did not spare this tranquil village; one of the most striking monuments to have fallen under gunfire (with front lines only two kilometers away) was the Ablain-Saint-Nazaire Church, a 16th-century flamboyant Gothic masterpiece built upon the request of local lord Charles de Bourbon-Carency to honor Saint Nazarius and the role he played in the healing of the lord’s sick daughter.

The Ancient Monuments Commission of France listed the church in 1908, right before the war started, while the same committee opted against rebuilding the magnificent church 10 years later. The committee wanted to preserve the poignant ruins as a testament to the German brutality and ruthlessness — a bone-chilling sight scarred by the war, and where time seems to have stood still for the past century. Shell holes are still visible today on most stones that make up these roofless yet utterly fascinating ruins. A new church was later built on the other side of town, which fortunately, still stands today.