The best cycling routes around Hennemont

A very beautiful and interesting monument.

Beautiful view over Verdun and the Meuse valley. On the nearby main road it is wonderful to drive downhill, but uphill is only recommended to a limited extent due to the busy traffic.

The Ossuary of Douaumont is an impressive memorial that holds the remains of more than 130,000 unknown French and German soldiers who died during the Battle of Verdun (1916). The bones are visible through small windows in the base – a confronting reminder of the horrors of war. In front of the ossuary is the Nécropole nationale de Douaumont, the largest French military cemetery of the First World War, with 16,142 graves, including a Muslim and Jewish plot. The complex was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023.

The Mémorial de Verdun, located near the ruined village of Fleury-devant-Douaumont, is a leading museum and commemoration site for the Battle of Verdun (1916). The museum displays more than 2,000 objects and uses authentic objects, photographs and audiovisual installations to show how French and German soldiers experienced this battle – in the exact same place where they fought.

The Lion of Souville Symbol of resistance at the gates of Verdun; This impressive monument, unveiled on 1 October 1922, stands on the site of the former Sainte-Fine chapel and commemorates the fallen of the 130th French Infantry Division. Designed by animal sculptor and veteran René Paris, the statue depicts a dying Bavarian lion – a powerful allegory for the defeat of the German troops and the heroic French defence during the Battle of Verdun. On 23 June 1916, the German attacks reached their peak at Fort de Souville, the last obstacle to the fall of Verdun. Thanks to the courage of a small French garrison led by Lieutenant Dupuy, the fort remained in French hands. The lion marks the extreme point of the German advance – the “last gate” to Verdun remained closed.

Monument in memory of André Maginot, a French politician who volunteered for the army in 1914. He was wounded near Verdun, but remained bravely at his post. After the war, as a minister, he committed himself to strengthening the French defense, which eventually led to the construction of the famous Maginot Line.

Built in 1881 above the Tunnel de Tavannes to reinforce the inner defensive belt of Verdun. The battery had three firing platforms and a traverse shelter, and was originally armed with two 220 mm mortars and one 22 cm smoothbore mortar. In 1900 it was disarmed and reused during the Battle of Verdun (1916) as an ammunition depot and shelter for troops. The traverse shelter is the best preserved element visible today.

Inaugurated in 1928, this war memorial in Verdun honours the city’s inhabitants who died for France in both world wars. It was built on the remains of a military butcher’s shop, on the crescent of the Chaussée, a 17th-century fortification. The sculpture depicts five soldiers – a cavalier, an engineer, an infantryman (poilu), an artilleryman and a territorial – forming a symbolic wall under the motto of Verdun: “On ne passe pas”.