Two lamps that carried the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic flames to the North

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It's a great way to perpetuate this moment which was strong throughout France. A few weeks after the Paris 2024 Olympics closed, two lamps that carried the flames, Olympic and Paralympicare exposed in the Nordin a highly symbolic place.

Miner’s lamps… in Lewarde

It is in Lewarde, at the Historic Mining Center to be exact, that the lamps will be on view, from Wednesday November 13, 2024 and until May 4, 2025. This is part of the exhibition “Mining is sport!” », labeled Cultural Olympiad.

This “mining museum”, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, has in fact acquired this duo of lamps, which allowed the flame to remain permanently lit, during their long journey before the tests. A choice made, “in order to show the public that the innovations and know-how from the mine also have other prestigious uses”, explains the establishment.

Because it must be remembered, these lamps are miners' lamps. “Since the first Olympic relays in 1936, the flame has often been transported by air or sea. These transport conditions require protection against shocks, jolts, salt, humidity or wind, and the safety lamp quickly established itself as a reliable ally of the Olympic fire,” reports the CHM.

“Designed for withstand the extreme conditions of the bottomthese lamps allow the Olympic flame to be transported and kept lit between relays, under the supervision of the flame guardians. »

“The use of these lamps during these international events is a great tribute to the technologies deployed in mines. »

“It’s sport!” »

The objects, which already belong to History, were designed in England by the Protector Lamp Company. Decorated with the logos of the Paris 2024 games, they naturally find their place in this documented exhibition, which invites the public to “discover the place of sport in the mining basin. »

As a reminder, “from the 19th century, mining companies built equipment and encouraged the development of clubs, to supervise the free time of miners and

of their family while providing them with sporting activities,” explains the center. To find out more, you have to go there, to (re)discover this unique heritage that is still very much alive in people's minds.

Note that the lamps, which you may have seen during their visit to us, at the beginning of July for the Olympic flame and at the end of August for the Paralympics, are presented in a showcase loaned by the Louvre-Lenswhile work is underway in the Galerie du Temps.

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