Comprising 7km of underground galleries, this cavernous subterranean citadel was designed by military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban in the 17th century and completed in 1838. In 1916 it was turned into an impregnable command centre in which 10,000 poilus (French WWI soldiers) lived, waiting to be dispatched to the front. About 10% of the galleries have been converted into an audiovisual re-enactment of Verdun's WWI history. Half-hour, battery-powered-car tours, available in six languages, should be booked ahead.
Shutterstock / Uwe Aranas
Citadelle Souterraine
Lorraine
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery
17.62 MILES
The largest US military cemetery in Europe is this WWI ground, where 14,246 soldiers lie buried – a sobering sea of white crosses reaching as far as the…
17.94 MILES
This heart-rending museum, which, in the words of owner Jean-Paul de Vries, is all about ‘life stories’ and ‘the human being behind the helmet’. Artefacts…
4.08 MILES
Rising like a gigantic artillery shell above 15,000 crosses that bleed into the distance, this sombre, 137m-long ossuary, inaugurated in 1932, is one of…
5.64 MILES
Sitting high on a hill, this is the strongest of the 38 fortresses and bastions built along a 45km front to protect Verdun. When the Battle of Verdun…
3.63 MILES
The village of Fleury, wiped off the face of the earth in the course of being captured and recaptured 16 times, is now the site of this memorial. It tells…
5.17 MILES
Located in crater-scarred countryside 10km northeast of Verdun, this fort was constructed between 1881 and 1884. It was the second fort – Douaumont was…
4.93 MILES
On 12 June 1916, two companies of the 137th Infantry Regiment of the French army were sheltered in their tranchées (trenches), baïonnettes (bayonets)…
24.02 MILES
This 375m-high mound, site of a US monument with a bronze relief map, is surrounded by a round neoclassical colonnade. The monument commemorates the…
Nearby Lorraine attractions
0.22 MILES
Set in Verdun’s handsomely classical former bishop’s palace, built in 1724, this museum’s permanent exhibition touches upon wars, their causes and…
0.28 MILES
Perched on a hillside, this Romanesque-meets-Gothic cathedral shelters a gilded Baroque baldachin, restored after WWI damage. Much of the stained glass is…
0.4 MILES
Steep steps lead up to this austere 1920s monument commemorating war victims and survivors. The crypt hides a book listing the soldiers who fought in the…
0.53 MILES
Once part of Verdun's original city ramparts, this 14th-century gate was later used as a prison from 1755 to 1860.
0.58 MILES
Built in 1877, this city gate is adorned with a marble plaque recalling the ‘victorious peace’ that inspired a ‘cry of joy’.
3.63 MILES
The village of Fleury, wiped off the face of the earth in the course of being captured and recaptured 16 times, is now the site of this memorial. It tells…
4.08 MILES
Rising like a gigantic artillery shell above 15,000 crosses that bleed into the distance, this sombre, 137m-long ossuary, inaugurated in 1932, is one of…
4.93 MILES
On 12 June 1916, two companies of the 137th Infantry Regiment of the French army were sheltered in their tranchées (trenches), baïonnettes (bayonets)…