Avenue Foch

Avenue Foch was built on the exact site of Le Havre's medieval fortifications that were demolished in 1852. The city walls' northern ramparts (glacis) were flattened to create this grand boulevard, transforming military defense infrastructure into one of Europe's most ambitious urban spaces.

Each building along Avenue Foch features unique stone-carved bas-reliefs created through an initiative by the François 1er Reconstruction Cooperative and the Friends of Old Le Havre association. These sculptures form an illustrated history book honoring famous Le Havre residents including artists Raoul Dufy and Othon Friesz, writers, sailors, city founders from 1517, industrialists, and explorers.

The avenue was completely annihilated during the Allied bombings of September 5-6, 1944, which destroyed nearly 150 hectares of Le Havre's city center. What visitors see today is an entirely new creation - not a restoration but a complete reimagining of urban space that took nearly 20 years to complete (1945-1964).