Communard's Wall

The Mur des Federes - the Communards' Wall - is a plain stone wall along the southeastern edge of Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris. At its foot on 28 May 1871 troops from Versailles shot the last 147 defenders of the Paris Commune after street fighting that had run through the cemetery itself; the dead were tipped into a pit hastily dug in front of the wall. Since then the site has been the central pilgrimage place of the French and international left: every May, socialists, communists, and trade unions lay red carnations here. A simple marble plaque reads Aux Morts de la Commune 21-28 mai 1871. Nearby lie the graves of prominent leftists including Paul Lafargue and Marcel Cachin, alongside the memorial wall to the Spanish Republic.