The best walks and hikes around Moulainville

A very beautiful and interesting monument.

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.

Casemate Pamart – Fort de Souville This concrete machine gun bunker was built in 1917 to reinforce the defences of Fort de Souville. Designed by Commandant Pamart, the Casemate offered an easy-to-install alternative to traditional gun turrets. Equipped with two Hotchkiss machine guns, it has a field of fire of 160°, with 14 cm of armour. Its compact size and robustness made it particularly suitable for use in the heavily damaged terrain around Verdun.

Built between 1876 and 1879 as part of the defensive belt around Verdun. The fort played a crucial role during the Battle of Verdun (1916), especially in July when German troops almost took it. Strategically located on a hill, it offered a view of the Meuse valley and was connected to other forts by telephone lines. The fort contained an underground shelter (abri sous roc) and a Bussière tower with a 155 mm gun. Despite heavy shelling, it remained in French hands and became a symbol of steadfastness.

Created during the First World War and laid out between 1919 and 1926, this military cemetery contains the graves of over 5,000 French soldiers who died at Verdun, as well as victims of the Second World War. Of particular note is the presence of seven unknown soldiers selected in 1920 at the Citadel of Verdun; one of them was chosen as the Unknown Soldier who now rests under the Arc de Triomphe. The site also contains the graves of foreign fighters, including a Chinese, an Indochinese, a Luxembourger and a Romanian.

The French 155mm artillery piece displayed in front of the entrance to the Verdun Memorial museum is the eye-catcher of the welcome.

Originally, it was a cross marking the end of processions, a religious monument characteristic of the Lorraine countryside. Badly damaged by bombing, it is called the cross of the reliefs because it is located on the path taken by the reliefs going towards Froideterre and Fleury, as Adelphe Pousse testifies in his book "A cassock under the gunfire". It still bears certain scenes from the Passion of Christ, as well as dates and names left by the soldiers going up or down from the front.

Ten months Battle of Verdun On 21 February 1916, the Germans launched an attack north of Verdun. The heavy fighting of 1916 around this French town on the upper reaches of the Meuse was the longest battle of the war. It lasted a full ten months, from February to December. The Battle of Verdun began with the largest artillery bombardment the world had seen up to that point. The ten months of fighting around Verdun cost an enormous number of casualties: some three-quarters of a million, of whom perhaps 300,000 were dead. This makes Verdun the most deadly battle of the Great War, together with the (possibly even bloodier) Battle of the Somme, which took place around the same time. The infamous Battle of Passchendaele or Third Battle of Ypres (1917) came in a distant third with 150,000 dead... About 160,000 were French. This is the largest death toll for a single country during a single battle of the war. It is striking that 4/5 of the dead were victims of artillery bombardments (for the entire war, this ratio is more like 2/3). Due to an enormous concentration of guns, the attacking troops had to fear artillery fire much more than man-to-man fighting.