ディエ・サー・ムーズのおすすめMTBライド

The route along the Meuse is beautiful and peaceful to drive and offers one or two highlights.

Verdun is a very beautiful city that has been very important since the Middle Ages. It's lovely to walk through the place and admire it.

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.

Medieval city gate from the 14th century, built as part of the Grand Rempart around the lower town of Verdun. The gate was financed by Wautrec, a wealthy citizen and alderman, after the granting of Verdun's status as a free imperial city in 1374. The gate consists of two semi-circular towers with a portcullis and the remains of a drawbridge. It has been a listed historical monument since 1881.

The Meuse at Verdun plays a crucial role in both the landscape and the history of the region. Cutting deeply through the hilly terrain, it has provided a natural defensive advantage—something that became painfully clear during the Battle of Verdun in 1916, one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the First World War. In addition to its strategic importance, the Meuse also has a more peaceful face: it flows peacefully along the banks of the city of Verdun, connecting the past with the present in a landscape that breathes history.

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.

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”.