The Meuse is the department of the Great War and Joan of Arc, a region of plains and forests which, for four years, was the deadliest battlefield in human history. Verdun, where the 1916 battle claimed more than 300,000 lives and left just as many wounded in ten months, is a symbol of the ferocity and absurdity of the conflict. The Verdun Memorial and the Douaumont Ossuary welcome millions of visitors every year who come to pay tribute to the soldiers on both sides.
Domrémy-la-Pucelle, the birthplace of Joan of Arc, whose house is preserved as a national shrine, is the department’s other major pilgrimage site. The Basilica of Bois-Chenu and the road to Vaucouleurs, where the young shepherdess persuaded the captain to escort her to Charles VII in Chinon, form a route steeped in history and emotion.
Bar-le-Duc, the department’s capital and former residence of the Dukes of Bar, boasts a remarkable historic quarter with its Renaissance mansions and 16th-century funerary sculptures. The Château de Commercy, residence of Stanislas Leszczynski, and the Château de Gondrecourt-le-Château round off a modest yet charming collection of castles in this department marked by the memory of wars.