Axe Majeur - Cergy France

Axe Majeur in French (or Major Axis in English), is a large monumental art structure located in Cergy-Pointoise France.

It was designed by an Israeli sculptor by the name of Dani Karavan back in the 1980s and consists of a series of 12 different stations that can be visited along its 3.2km walking path.

The first station begins at a 36 meter tall, slightly leaning Belvedere Tower that is located within a circular plaza. The neoclassically inspired wall design of the plaza is made up of a seemingly endless series of windows that are sandwiched between a long row of white concrete columns. Viewing it from certain angles kind of gives it an illusory feel to it.

From there you walk along a concrete path through a large gateway. Eventually you come to a set of 12 concrete columns rising out of a concrete platform. The columns are 12 meters tall as well which makes me think that the number 12 might carry some sort of significance to the overall art piece. I'm not sure what that might be though.

The platform that the columns were built on overlooks the remainder of the path below. There is also a park and a large body of water off in the distance.

I personally like how the white concrete construction stands out against the crisp blue of the sky. We were quite lucky to get good weather that day.

Heading down the steep set of stairs brings you to a large red bridge. In the picture below you can see my wife heading back up the stairs on our walk back to our car.

The the 251 meter bridge sits over a a small amphitheater and man made pond.

Here is a view of the pond and bridge from below.

At the end of the bridge is a platform that looks out over the water. There you can see a perfectly cicular man made island and a small 10 meter high pyramid.

Looking back before heading home you can see the white path and the staircase and the 12 columns at the top of the hill in the distance. It kind of looks like a large fork rising out of the earth to me.

The art piece took over two decades to complete and around 38 million euros. For us it took about an hour or less to traverse. There wasn't much else to do in town so I wouldn't recommend making a special trip for it but it gave us an excuse last year to get out of the house on a sunny winter day.

Well, thats it for now. Until next time. Thanks for reading!