le mémorial de verdun

Day we went was cloudy, misty & wet.Unique museum with photos & actual shell pocked site denoting moving pillboxes for snipers etc in No Mans Land.No guideSigns everyplace.Huge mockups.note artillery pieces out front.

Very much wanted to visit this. You would have thought that the work would have been completed by 2014 to enable people visiting the area for the centenary of WW1 to get the full experience. A small caravan with information just does not suffice.

This memorial is closed and fenced off until 2016 while work is completed. You can see it from the roadside and there is a small caravan with information should you require.

The battlefield of Verdun is a vast expanse of reclaimed land with the Memorial set at a prominent point. Given the size of the area in question it is advisable to spend a day in the area. There are the sites of destroyed villages, ancient trench workings and massive forts to be visited and viewed as well as the Memorial and military cemetery. When you realise the number of men and women who died here you get a real sense of the magnitude of the battle.

We visited this place which is currently closed and being refurbished reopening 2016 - as part of the 100th Anniversary of Verdun. We were directed from the temporary caravan to a temporary exhibition in Verdun town Central Prix de la Mondial - please see separate (Awful) review

We have visited Verdun many, many times - first of all in 1988 - and so we have seen a lot of changes, not always for the good of course. But now on the odd occasion that we take friends over with us we always recommend a visit here after a walk around the adjacent Ossuaire du Doumamont (did I spell it correctly? Hope so!) There is a very good museum with a huge model of the battlefield as it was in 1917 - viewed from slightly above in the gallery it gives the impression that an observer in an artillery liaison observation aeroplane might have had. There are loads and loads of uniforms, equipment and weapons on display and outside there is a collection of artillery weapons and shells, some of which are of a truly staggering calibre. Well worth the time.

How do you document a battlefield where in 300 days 30,000,000 shells fell and resulted in over 130,000 unknown soldiers buried in a single location. The sight has an appropriately graphic movie which helps explain the battle and the resulting carnage. There is also a small museum displaying a wide variety of weapons and material used in the battle.

Rows of crosses keep going..and going..and going.But how does one memorialize 300,000 dead.More effective memorial than even the Vietnam All in Washington with the huge marker at the top.

I wasn't expecting much, but this truly is the great place to learn not only about battle of Verdun, but WWI in general. Many great pieces of artillery, equipment, uniforms and even vehicles reside in it, coupled with the shocking facts.. You wouldn't believe the numbers and logistics that was needed, and the pointlessness of it all. Fort Douamont and Oussary are few minutes away by car, Fleurry is right next to Memorial, so it all makes a great package to learn about and see the horror that almost forgotten WWI was.

It's called a Memorial but it's really a top-notch museum and walk-through as to the battle, the weapons, the soldiers and the battle. The exhibits are top-rate with good signage, a wide display of material and well-presented. We loved this place. Once you go through (1-3 hours depending on how deep you want to get into it) you are far better prepared to visit battlefield sites and understand how it must have been; maybe even WHY it was as it was. As you walk up out front there are a number of heavy artillery pieces and the artillery shells that were fired. Take a picture of you (or someone with you) next to one of those shells and marvel at their size. Then remember that it was filled with high explosives and that shells like pounded through and into forts such as Douaumont; and how many hundreds of thousands died under those shell. Sobering.

Very informative and nicely displayed museum to the battle around Verdun. Depicting life on both sides of the battle this is an excellent museum and well worth the drive from Verdun.

The memorial has one undeniable merit: to teach young generations that peace in Europe must not given for granted. You take this short tour and you immediately are immersed back into the 1910s and one of the most cruel battle recorded by history. You learn about the weapons that were used, the carriages, what soldiers were wearing, how their the daily life in the trenches was. There are however some shortcomings: the battle itself is not well explained and you get a bit confused. Within the memorial there is one small shop, with a handful (not more) of books in english. There are toilets, though they look like they should have had in the good old 1930s. Overall, it is a stop I would certainly recommend, especially if you are travelling with school-age children but also if you want to think back about how Europe used to be.

Many pics, models & battlefield scenes IE huge shell holes & mobile armored sniper units for use in No Mans Land.Many pics showing vets post war & medical careNow equip is near 100 yrs old.One for the agesVery quiet locale.down road, diner had best sausages.On road away from museum, it denotes whole villages evaporated during battle.many maps, documents & mockup equipment No movies, CDs for background effect entering museum, more solace vs infotainment noise like other musuems.

This is an excellent little museum. The displays help you visualize the battlefield conditions and the information will give you a quick outline of the action there. I have been to the battlefield on many occasions and always stop here.

We thoroughly enjoyed this museum. Only knowing the basics of the battle of Verdun we found the museum full of information about the battle, and our children found the destruction of the villages and the fact that they weren't rebuilt very intriguing. We visited the "town" of Fleury afterwards so that the children could see it. We didn't realise that there was a specific movie in English so ended up at the French one instead but it didn't matter as it was more about the imagery rather than the story. Glad we went