The Douaumont Ossuary: Verdun - France's Solemn Memorial to the Unknown Soldiers of the Great War

Step onto a quiet, forested ridge above the city of Verdun and walk through one of the most powerful war memorials in all of France: the Douaumont Ossuary. In this episode of Walking Tour of France, you'll stand before the monument's vast one-hundred-and-thirty-seven-meter facade, take in the sword-hilt design and the towering shell-shaped Lantern of the Dead, and gaze down over the largest French military cemetery of the First World War, with more than sixteen thousand graves sloping toward the trees.Inside, you'll move through the amber-lit cloister lined with the carved names of the fallen, look through the low windows at the remains of some one hundred and thirty thousand unidentified French and German soldiers resting side by side, and climb the tower for a sweeping view of a battlefield that nature has reclaimed but never fully healed. Along the way you'll hear how the memorial came to be, how it became the site of a historic moment of Franco-German reconciliation, and what it asks of every visitor who walks its halls.For places to eat, we mention the Abri des Pèlerins near the battlefield, the First World War-themed La Cantine des Poilus in Verdun, and the highly rated L'Étal in town. For more to see nearby, we cover the Mémorial de Verdun, Fort Douaumont, Fort Vaux, the destroyed village of Fleury-devant-Douaumont, the haunting Bayonet Trench, and the Underground Citadel in Verdun.Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.