The best gravel rides around Le Claon

This ossuary, which has the status of a national necropolis, houses the remains of approximately 10,000 soldiers who fell during the Battle of Argonne. The imposing monument found there was created by the sculptor Raoul Eugène Lamourdedieu.

The Saint-Roch chapel appeared in the 17th century, well before the La Harazée national necropolis next to which it is located. The latter contains the remains of 1,672 soldiers who fell during the Battle of Argonne.

The Nécropole Nationale de la Forestière in Lachalade is a military cemetery that keeps alive the memory of the soldiers who died in the First World War. This serene memorial was created in 1915 and later expanded to collect the remains of soldiers who fought in the Argonne region between 1914 and 1918. Today, 2,005 soldiers rest there, and the cemetery is famous for its blue, pink and white hydrangeas, planted by the Comtesse de Martimprey in tribute to her missing husband. The site has been classified as a World Heritage Site since September 2023, and nearby is a monument to the Italian volunteers who fought in the Argonne, including the grandsons of Giuseppe Garibaldi

Ravin du Génie: Located in the woods of Lachalade, less than 1.2 km from the front line, this ravine was an important logistical camp for the French engineers during WWI. Soldiers found rest there, and equipment was stored for mine warfare in the Argonne. Today it is an open-air museum with the remains of barracks, warehouses and trenches – a tangible reminder of daily life behind the front. Free access with information panels.

This concrete bunker was built in 1915 to protect the strategic crossroads Croix de Pierre. It is named after Lieutenant Robert de Courson de la Villeneuve, who was killed in the Argonne in 1914. The shelter is a silent witness to the fierce fighting in this wooded front area during WWI. The bunker is located near the road and is freely accessible.

Downwards until the road

As a memorial to the many war dead, such places of remembrance are still very important today. "Now, Lord, you let your servant depart in peace, as you have said..." it says in the so-called "Hymn of Simeon" (Luke's Gospel, Chapter 2, Verse 29). However, the large number of those buried here did not depart in peace, but became senseless victims of war and tyranny. The most important and everlasting function of such monuments (in German-speaking countries mostly referred to as soldiers' cemeteries or war graves) is therefore to remind each generation anew of the need to permanently preserve peace.

The Sainte-Ménéhould national cemetery brings together the remains of French soldiers who, despite the care provided in the city's numerous hospitals, died as a result of their injuries during the two world wars. Nearly 5,700 bodies are buried there.