Memorial de Verdun.

© kruwt/Getty Images/iStock

Mémorial de Verdun


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 the story of ‘300 days, 300,000 dead, 400,000 wounded’, with insightful displays of war artefacts and personal items. Downstairs you’ll find a recreation of the battlefield as it looked on the day the guns finally fell silent.

In the grassy crater-pocked centre of what was once Fleury, a few hundred metres down the road from the memorial, signs among the low ruins indicate the village’s former layout.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Ossuaire de Douaumont

0.94 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…

2. Tranchée des Baïonnettes

1.5 MILES

On 12 June 1916, two companies of the 137th Infantry Regiment of the French army were sheltered in their tranchées (trenches), baïonnettes (bayonets)…

3. Fort de Vaux

1.72 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. Fort de Douaumont

2.4 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…

5. Porte St-Paul

3.06 MILES

Built in 1877, this city gate is adorned with a marble plaque recalling the ‘victorious peace’ that inspired a ‘cry of joy’.

6. Porte Chaussée

3.12 MILES

Once part of Verdun's original city ramparts, this 14th-century gate was later used as a prison from 1755 to 1860.

7. Monument à la Victoire

3.24 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…

8. Cathédrale Notre Dame

3.37 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…