Lake Moeris
The faces the basilica, on the "Place Napoléon". The work of Armand Le Véel, it represents the Emperor contemplating the harbour and the military port. On the base, reads an excerpt from the "Memorial of Sainte-Hélène", dated 15 July 1816: "I had resolved to renew to Cherbourg the wonders of Egypt", i.e. a pyramid with central fort and a new Lake Moeris, for the outer harbour, dug into the rock. The statue, erected in 1858 on the occasion of the visit of Napoleon III, recalls the importance of the Emperor in the expansion of Cherbourg. Around this emblematic monument of the city, registered in August 2006 and classified as an historic monument on 31 January 2008, extends the "Plage verte", the old artificial beach until the postwar period, which runs along the marina.