For the French and German soldiers, the Battle of Verdun symbolized the horrors of World War I. Strategically located by the Meuse river, this was the most important stronghold in eastern France.
Between February 21st 1916 and August 1917, the horrific battle of Verdun, taking 300 days and 300 nights, surrounded and destroyed the area.
Some years ago, a group of enterprising locals got together, bought a huge disused quarry and began to stage what has become the biggest spectacle in Europe on the Great War. At weekends between June and August the son-et-lumiere (sound and light) show Des Flammes à la lumière ('From the flames to the light') takes the audience through the war from mobilization of the French to the battles won by the Americans and the armistice.
Practical Information
June 29, 30; July 6,7,20,21,27,28; August 3, 4, 2012.
For details of the show, see Battle of Verdun Memorial article.