Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administrat ...

, northeastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is an

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...

of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is

Bar-le-Duc Bar-le-Duc (), formerly known as Bar, is a commune in the Meuse département, of which it is the capital. The department is in Grand Est in northeastern France. The lower, more modern and busier part of the town extends along a narrow valley, sh ...

, which is slightly smaller than Verdun. It is well known for giving its name to a major battle of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Geography

Verdun is situated on both banks of the river

, in the northern part of the Meuse department. It is connected by rail to

Jarny Jarny () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department The following is a list of the 591 communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department of Fr ...

. The

A4 autoroute The A4 Autoroute, also known as autoroute de l'Est (), is a French ''Controlled-access highway, autoroute'' that travels between the cities of Paris and Strasbourg. It forms parts of European routes European route E25, E25 and European route E5 ...

Paris–Metz–Strasbourg passes south of the town.

History

Verdun (''Verodunum'', a latinisation of a

place name Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

meaning "strong

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

" in

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...

) was founded by the

Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...

. It has been the seat of the bishop of

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

since the

4th century The 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini/Common era) was the time period which lasted from 301 (Roman numerals, CCCI) through 400 (Roman numerals, CD). In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine the Grea ...

, with interruptions.A History of Food, Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, Blackwell Publishing 1992, p.567 In 486, following the decisive

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

victory at the Battle of Soissons, the city (amongst several other nearby cities) refused to yield to the Franks and was thus besieged by King

Clovis I Clovis ( la, Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single kin ...

. The 843

Treaty of Verdun The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Francia, Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis the Pious, Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three ...

divided

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

's empire between his three surviving sons. Around this time, a city called Verdun was the centre of the thriving European trade in young boys who were sold to the Islamic

emirate An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalen ...

s of

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

, where they were enslaved as

eunuchs A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...

. The Italian ambassador

Liutprand of Cremona Liutprand, also Liudprand, Liuprand, Lioutio, Liucius, Liuzo, and Lioutsios (c. 920 – 972),"LIUTPRAND OF CREMONA" in ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', Oxford University Press, New York & Oxford, 1991, p. 12 ...

, as one example in the 10th century, presented a gift of four eunuchs to Emperor

Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Kar ...

. The identity of the "Verdun" mentioned in sources is disputed, because there are many cities called Verdun in Europe (such as

Verdun-sur-Garonne Verdun-sur-Garonne (, literally ''Verdun on Garonne''; oc, Verdun de Garona) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Monuments Verdun-sur-Garonne Hotel de Ville.jpg, Town Hall Église de l' ...

Occitania Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language, Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This ...

, and

Verdun-sur-le-Doubs Verdun-sur-le-Doubs (, literally ''Verdun on the Doubs'') is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France.Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

. From 1200 onward, Verdun has been famous for its

Dragée A dragée ( ; ), also known as confetto (; ), malbas, Jordan almond, or sugared almond in the U.K, is a bite-sized form of confectionery with a hard outer shell. It is often used for another purpose (e.g. decorative, symbolic, medicinal, etc.) i ...

s or sugared almonds; they were distributed at the

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

of French princes. Verdun was part of the middle kingdom of

Lotharingia Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...

, and in 1374 it became a

free imperial city In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. The Bishopric of Verdun formed together with Tull (

Toul Toul () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Toul is between Commercy and Nancy, and the river Moselle and Canal de la Marne au Rhin. Climate Toul h ...

) and

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

the

Three Bishoprics The Three Bishoprics (french: les Trois-Évêchés ) constituted a government of the Kingdom of France consisting of the dioceses of Metz, Verdun, and Toul within the Lorraine region. The three dioceses had been Prince-bishoprics of the Holy Ro ...

, which were annexed by France in 1552 (recognized in 1648 by the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pea ...

). From 1624 to 1636, a large bastioned citadel was constructed on the site of the Abbey of Saint Vanne. In 1670,

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, Seigneur de Vauban, later Marquis de Vauban (baptised 15 May 163330 March 1707), commonly referred to as ''Vauban'' (), was a French military engineer who worked under Louis XIV. He is generally considered the ...

visited Verdun and drew up an ambitious scheme to fortify the whole city. Although much of his plan was built in the following decades, some of the elements were not completed until after the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. During the Napoleonic War, the citadel was used to hold British

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

. In the Franco-Prussian War, Verdun was the last French fortress to surrender in 1870. Shortly afterwards, a new system of fortification was begun. This consisted of a mutually supporting ring of 22

polygonal fort A polygonal fort is a type of fortification originating in France in the late 18th century and fully developed in Germany in the first half of the 19th century. Unlike earlier forts, polygonal forts had no bastions, which had proved to be vulnerabl ...

s up to from the city, and an inner ring of 6 forts. 1638 Tassin view of Verdun edited reduced

Battle of Verdun (1792)

Despite the extensive fortifications, in the Battle of Verdun in 1792 the fortress was captured by the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

ns during the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the Kingdom of France (1791-92), constitutional Kingdom of France and then t ...

. The Battle was fought on August 20, 1792, between French Revolutionary forces and a Prussian army. The Prussian victory opened the path to Paris for the invading armies. However, the Prussians were unable to press their success and abandoned Verdun following the

Battle of Valmy The Battle of Valmy, also known as the Cannonade of Valmy, was the first major victory by the army of France during the Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The battle took place on 20 September 1792 as Prussian troops comm ...

Battle of Verdun (First World War)

Fort Douaumont Ende 1916 rotated North at top

Verdun was the site of a major battle, the longest-lasting of the First World War. One of the costliest battles in military history, Verdun exemplified the policy of a "

war of attrition The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...

" pursued by both sides, which led to an enormous loss of life and very large casualty lists. Following the failure of the

Schlieffen Plan The Schlieffen Plan (german: Schlieffen-Plan, ) is a name given after the First World War to German war plans, due to the influence of Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen and his thinking on an invasion of France and Belgium, which began on 4 ...

in 1914 and the solidifying of the Western Front, Germany remained on the strategic defensive in the west throughout most of 1915. In the winter of 1915–16, German General

Erich von Falkenhayn General Erich Georg Sebastian Anton von Falkenhayn (11 September 1861 – 8 April 1922) was the second Chief of the German General Staff of the First World War from September 1914 until 29 August 1916. He was removed on 29 August 1916 after t ...

, the chief of the

German General Staff The German General Staff, originally the Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff (german: Großer Generalstab), was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the German Army, responsible for the continuou ...

(1914–1916) made plans for a large offensive on the Western Front that ultimately aimed to break the French Army through the application of firepower at a point that the French had to hold for reasons of national prestige. As Falkenhayn recalled it, his so-called "Christmas memorandum" to Kaiser Willhelm II envisioned a massive but limited attack on a French position 'for the retention of which the French Command would be compelled to throw in every man they have'. Once the French army had bled to death, Britain could be brought down by Germany's

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

blockade and superior military strength. The logic of initiating a battle not to gain territory or a strategic position but simply to create a self-sustaining killing ground—to bleed the French army to death—pointed to the grimness of military vision in 1916. Recent scholarship by Holger Afflerbach and others, however, has questioned the veracity of the Christmas memo. No copy has ever surfaced and the only account of it appeared in Falkenhayn's post-war memoir. His army commanders at Verdun, including the German Crown Prince, denied any knowledge of an attrition strategy. It is possible that Falkenhayn did not specifically design the battle to bleed the French army but used this supposed motive after the fact in an attempt to justify the Verdun offensive, despite its failure. Aerial Photographs of the Western Front Q48890

Aerial Photographs of the Western Front Q48890

Verdun was the strongest point in pre-war France, ringed by a string of powerful forts, including

Douaumont Douaumont () is a former commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Douaumont-Vaux.Fort Vaux Fort Vaux (french: Fort de Vaux), in Vaux-Devant-Damloup, Meuse (department), Meuse, France, was a polygonal fort forming part of the ring of 19 large defensive works intended to protect the city of Verdun. Built from 1881 to 1884 for 1,500,00 ...

. By 1916, the salient at Verdun jutted into the German lines and lay vulnerable to attack from three sides. The historic city of Verdun had been an ''

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...

'' of the

before Roman times and later a key asset in wars against

, and Falkenhayn suspected that the French would throw as many men as necessary into its defence. Ironically, France had substantially weakened Verdun's defences after the outbreak of the war, an oversight that would contribute to the removal of

Joseph Joffre Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre (12 January 1852 – 3 January 1931) was a French general who served as Commander-in-Chief of French forces on the Western Front from the start of World War I until the end of 1916. He is best known for regroup ...

from supreme command at the end of 1916. The attack was slated to begin on 12 February, then 16 February, but the snow forced repeated postponements. The Great war (1915) (14578428098)

Falkenhayn massed over 1000 artillery pieces to the north and east of Verdun to precede the infantry advance with intensive artillery bombardment. His attack would hit the French positions on the right bank of the

. Although French intelligence had warned of his plans, these warnings were ignored by the French Command and troop levels in the area remained low. Consequently, Verdun was utterly unprepared for the initial bombardment on the morning of 21 February 1916. German infantry attacks followed that afternoon and met tenacious but ultimately inadequate resistance for the first four days. On 25 February, the Germans occupied Douaumont. French reinforcements—now under the leadership of General

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of World ...

—began to arrive and were instantly thrown into "the furnace" (as the battle was called) to slow the German advance, no matter what the cost. Over the next several days, the stubborn defense managed to slow the German advance with a series of bloody counter-attacks. In March, Falkenhayn decided to target the French positions on the left bank of the Meuse as well, broadening the offensive front twofold. Throughout March and April,

Cumières-le-Mort-Homme Cumières-le-Mort-Homme is a ghost commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Since the end of the Battle of Verdun in 1916, it has been unoccupied (official population: 0), as have Bezonvaux, Beaumont-en-Verdunois, H ...

and Hill 304 were under continuous heavy bombardment and relentless infantry attacks. Meanwhile, Pétain organised repeated, small-scale counter-attacks to slow the German advance. He also ensured that the sole supply road from

into Verdun remained open. It became known as the

Voie Sacrée The Voie Sacrée ("Sacred Way") is a road that connects Bar-le-Duc to Verdun (Meuse), France. It was given its name because of the vital role it played during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. Use during WWI After March 1916, along the of ...

"Sacred Way" because it continued to carry vital supplies and reinforcements into the Verdun front despite constant artillery fire. French 87th Regiment Cote 34 Verdun 1916

French 87th Regiment Cote 34 Verdun 1916

German gains continued in June, but slowly and only after increasingly heavy losses on their side. On 7 June, following almost a week of bitter resistance,

Fort Vaux Fort Vaux (french: Fort de Vaux), in Vaux-Devant-Damloup, Meuse (department), Meuse, France, was a polygonal fort forming part of the ring of 19 large defensive works intended to protect the city of Verdun. Built from 1881 to 1884 for 1,500,00 ...

fell to the Germans after a murderous hand-to-hand fight inside the fort itself. On 23 June, the Germans reached what would become the furthest point of their advance. The line was just in front of Fort Souville, the last stronghold before Verdun itself. Pétain was making plans to evacuate the right bank of the Meuse when the combined Anglo-French offensive on the Somme River was launched on 1 July, partly to relieve pressure on the French, although the first day was the bloodiest in the British Army's history. The Germans could no longer afford to continue their offensive at Verdun when they were needed so desperately on the Somme. At a cost of some 400,000 German casualties and a similar number of French, the attack was finally called off. The estimated death toll on both sides were 143,000 dead Germans and 162,440 French soldiers. Germany's intention to bleed France to death had failed. The battle continued, however, from October to the end of the year. French offensives, employing new tactics devised by General

Robert Nivelle Robert Georges Nivelle (15 October 1856 – 22 March 1924) was a French artillery general officer who served in the Boxer Rebellion and the First World War. In May 1916, he succeeded Philippe Pétain as commander of the French Second Army in the ...

, regained the forts and territory they had lost earlier. This was the only gleam of hope in an otherwise abysmal landscape. Overall, the battle lasted 11 months. Falkenhayn was replaced by

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...

as Chief of General Staff. General Nivelle was promoted over the head of General Pétain to replace

Generalissimo ''Generalissimo'' ( ) is a military rank of the highest degree, superior to field marshal and other five-star ranks in the states where they are used. Usage The word (), an Italian term, is the absolute superlative of ('general') thus me ...

as French supreme commander, although he was to hold the post for less than six months.

Population

Panoramic views

Cemetery and memorials

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

bayonet A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustr ...

s 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. 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 George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

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 Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

. On 5 October 1917,

Bernardino Machado Bernardino Luís Machado Guimarães, GCTE, GCL (; 28 March 1851, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 29 April 1944, Porto, Portugal), was a Portuguese political figure, the third and eighth president of Portugal (1915–17, 1925–26). In 1917, ...

President of the Portuguese Republic The president of Portugal, officially the president of the Portuguese Republic ( pt, Presidente da República Portuguesa, ), is the head of state and highest office of Portugal. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, an ...

, awarded the City of Verdun the

Order of the Tower and Sword The Ancient and Most Noble Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of the Valour, Loyalty and Merit ( pt, Antiga e Muito Nobre Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada, do Valor, Lealdade e Mérito), before 1910 Royal Military Order of the Tower an ...

, 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. File:Verdun 4juni2006 043.jpg,

at the summit of Verdun's Victory Monument File:Verdun 5.jpg, A portion of the battlefield today File:I world war memorial.jpg, World War I memorial at

Douaumont Douaumont () is a former commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Douaumont-Vaux.Verdun Cathedral Verdun Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Verdun) is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Verdun, Lorraine, France. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishops of Verdun. It was declared a ''monument historique'' on 30 October 190 ...

(''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. *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. *The "Subterrean Citadel" is situated at the entrance of Verdun. It holds of shafts that used to accommodate soldiers during the war. *The former Abbey of St Paul houses the ''palais de justice'' and the headquarters of the sub-prefecture of Meuse. File:Mairie Verdun.JPG, Verdun town hall File:Cathedrale Verdun.JPG, Verdun Cathedral File:Verdun 4juni2006 041.jpg, Verdun episcopal palace

Notable people

* Giovanni Veneroni (1642-1708), linguist *

Danielle Mitterrand Danielle Émilienne Isabelle Mitterrand (née Gouze; 29 October 1924 – 22 November 2011) was the wife of French President François Mitterrand, and president of the foundation France Libertés Fondation Danielle Mitterrand.Mark Meadows Mark Randall Meadows (born July 28, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 29th White House chief of staff from 2020 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 11th c ...

(b. 1959), former

United States Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, born in Verdun *

Hervé Revelli Hervé Revelli (born 5 May 1946) is a French former footballer who played as a forward. He is well–known for having won the French Championship a joint–record seven times. Career Revelli scored 31 Ligue 1 goals during the calendar year of ...

(b. 1946), footballer,

AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...

's top goalscorer *

Isabelle Nanty Isabelle Nanty (born 21 January 1962) is a French actress, film and theatre director and screenwriter. Career She was a teacher for several years at the Cours Florent, and then received a nomination for the César Award for Most Promising Actres ...

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

René Dufaure de Montmirail René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name ( Renée being the feminin ...

(1876-1917), founder of the football club

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

Nicolas Psaume Nicolas PsaumePsaulme, Preaume, Psalmaeus. (1518, in Chaumont-sur-Aire – 10 August 1575, in Verdun) was a count-bishop of Verdun and prince of the Holy Roman Empire. The Bishopric of Verdun was then a French-speaking State of the Holy Roman ...

(1518-1575), a Prince-Bishop who implemented several reforms inspired by the Council of Trent, among them an institution providing education to orphans (1568), succeeded by a tuition-free secondary school (1570) which predated by 70 years the first seminary and was supported by a network of public primary schools, the University of Pont-à-Mousson (1575). * Jean-Nicolas Desandrouins (1729-1792), a general in the Royal Corps of Engineers, who served as a colonel during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

and the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. *

Nicholas of Verdun Nicholas of Verdun (c. 1130 – c. 1205) was a renowned metalworker, goldsmith and enamellist active around the years 1180–1205. He was born in the city of Verdun, Upper Lorraine. The region extending from the valley of the Rhine and Meuse riv ...

(1130-1205), one of the most famous goldsmiths of the Middle Ages * Philippe Bunau-Varilla (1859-1940), an engineer who improved the process of water chlorination, known in French as " verdunisation", during the 1916's Battle of Verdun.

References

External links

Official web site Verdun

Tourist Office of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun

La place forte de Verdun 1870–1918
well documented website on the extensive fortification system around Verdun
GPS-Teamproject "Verdun - Somme - 1916"
* * * * * *
The subterranean citadel
underneath Verdun {{DEFAULTSORT:Verdun Communes of Meuse (department) !Verdun Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 3rd class Subprefectures in France States and territories disestablished in 1552 States and territories established in the 1370s Recipients of the Military Cross Recipients of the Order of the Tower and Sword Meuse communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Vauban fortifications in France Three Bishoprics