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Verdun

Verdun (/vɜːrˈdʌn/,[3] also UK: /ˈvɛərdʌn/,[4] US: /vɛərˈdʌn/,[5] French: [vɛʁdœ̃] ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.

For the 1916 battle, see Battle of Verdun. For other uses, see Verdun (disambiguation).

Verdun

Samuel Hazard[1]

31.03 km2 (11.98 sq mi)

16,689

540/km2 (1,400/sq mi)

55545 /55100

194–330 m (636–1,083 ft)

Verdun

Republic

Uncertain

Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is Bar-le-Duc, which is slightly smaller than Verdun. It is well known for giving its name to a major battle of the First World War.

Geography[edit]

Verdun is situated on both banks of the river Meuse, in the northern part of the Meuse department. It is connected by rail to Jarny. The A4 autoroute Paris–Metz–Strasbourg passes south of the town.

A portion of the battlefield today

A portion of the battlefield today

World War I memorial at Douaumont

World War I memorial at Douaumont

There are many French and German cemeteries throughout the battlefield. The largest is the French National Cemetery and Douaumont Ossuary near Fort Douaumont. Thirteen thousand crosses adorn the field in front of the ossuary, which holds roughly 130,000 unidentified remains brought in from the battlefield. Every year yields more remains, which are often placed inside the ossuary's vaults.


Among many revered memorials on the battlefield is the "Bayonet Trench", which marks the location where some dozen bayonets lined up in a row were discovered projecting out of the ground after the war; below each rifle was the body of a French soldier. It has been assumed that these belonged to a group of soldiers who had rested their rifles against the parapet of the trench they were occupying when they were killed during a bombardment, and the men were buried where they lay in the trench and the rifles left untouched. However, this is probably not historically accurate: experts agree that the bayonets were probably affixed to the rifles after the attack and installed by survivors to memorialize the spot.[24]


Nearby, the World War I Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial is located at Romagne-sous-Montfaucon to the northwest of Verdun. It is the final resting place for 14,246 American military dead, most of whom died in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The chapel contains a memorial to the 954 American missing whose remains were never recovered or identified.


On 12 September 1916 King George V awarded the Military Cross to the City of Verdun, one of only two awards of this British decoration to a municipality during World War I, the other being Ypres.[25] On 5 October 1917, Bernardino Machado, President of the Portuguese Republic, awarded the City of Verdun the Order of the Tower and Sword, 1st Class (Grand Cross) for its "tenacious resistance, steadfastness in battle, and heroism of its garrison, having filled a brilliant position in the present war and gloriously proving the worth of a nation's valour and patriotism"; the investiture ceremony took place on 10 October 1917, during President Machado's visit to the Western Front.[26]

The Châtel Gate is the only remaining part of the medieval city walls. It leads onto La Roche Square.

La Citadelle was built in the 17th century. It is still in military hands but the underlying tunnels can be visited.

(Notre-Dame de Verdun) was consecrated in 1147 but was built on the site of an earlier church. The 12th-century Lion Door on the north side has a lavishly decorated tympanum. The whole building was heavily restored in the 18th century.

Verdun Cathedral

The Episcopal Palace was built in the 18th century by Robert de Cotte and has a fine façade. Part of the building is occupied by the World Peace Centre.

The Princerie Museum is located in the former residence of the Primicier (the highest-ranking public servant) of . It contains historic work of art from the region.

Verdun

The "Subterrean Citadel" is situated at the entrance of Verdun. It holds 4 km (2 mi) of shafts that used to accommodate soldiers during the war.

The former houses the palais de justice and the headquarters of the sub-prefecture of Meuse.

Abbey of St Paul

(1130–1205), goldsmith

Nicholas of Verdun

(1518–1575), prince-bishop

Nicolas Psaume

(1642–1708), linguist

Giovanni Veneroni

(1695–1769), army general

François de Chevert

(1698–1748), composer

Henry Madin

(1729–1792), army general

Jean-Nicolas Desandrouins

(1746–1823), politician

Jean-Nicolas Pache

(1817–1869), poet and publisher

Moyse Alcan

(1859–1940), engineer

Philippe Bunau-Varilla

(1876-1917), football manager

René Dufaure de Montmirail

(1896–1972), choral conductor

Élisabeth Brasseur

(1898–1975), U.S. actress

Francine Larrimore

(1924–2011), First Lady of France

Danielle Mitterrand

(1942–2018), political scientist

Sophie Body-Gendrot

(b. 1946), footballer

Hervé Revelli

(b. 1959), U.S. politician

Mark Meadows

(b. 1960), criminologist and forensic scientist

Pierre Delval

(b. 1962), actress, screen and theatre director, screenwriter

Isabelle Nanty

Séré de Rivières system

Michelin (April 2000). Illustrated Michelin Guide to the battlefields "Verdun and the Battles for its Possessions". Naval & Military Press.  9781843420668.

ISBN

Horne, Alistair (1993). "The Price of Glory" Verdun 1916. Penguin Publishing.  9780140170412.

ISBN

Holstein, Christina (January 2009). Walking Verdun. Casemate Publishers.  978-1844158676.

ISBN

Buckingham, William F. (2007). Battlefield Guide VERDUN 1916. Tempus.  9780752441481.

ISBN

Official web site Verdun

Tourist Office of Verdun

Archived 10 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine

The Battle of Verdun

well documented website on the extensive fortification system around Verdun

La place forte de Verdun 1870–1918

GPS-Teamproject "Verdun - Somme - 1916"

. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009. Retrieved 14 October 2008.

"My visits to the battlefields of Verdun"

.

"Forum Eerste Wereldoorlog, Dutch/Flemish Forum"

. American Battle Monuments Commission. Archived from the original on 11 February 2006. Retrieved 17 January 2006.

"World War I Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial"

. Archived from the original on 10 May 2007.

"Photo album of old and modern Verdun area"

.

"Verdun — A Battle of the Great war"

.

"The old fortifications of Verdun"

underneath Verdun

The subterranean citadel