Fleury
Fleury
4.5
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4.5
169 reviews
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DesdinovaUK
Dover, UK693 contributions
Aug 2022
The remains of the totally destroyed village of Fleury devant Douaumont.
A shell cratered landscape, with markers showing the positions where farms, shops, houses, and the town hall amongst others once stood.
The place commands respect, remembrance and quiet contemplation.
A shell cratered landscape, with markers showing the positions where farms, shops, houses, and the town hall amongst others once stood.
The place commands respect, remembrance and quiet contemplation.
Written August 25, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Luxtraveller66
Comber, UK543 contributions
Jul 2012 • Couples
This area, along the D913 if full of memories of WW1 and the battles that took place here, just a few miles north-east of Verdun.
Start your trip at the nearby Verdun Memorial Museum (Satnav: 1 avenue du Corps Européen
55100 Fleury-devant-Douaumont 7Euro pp entrance fee), less than 1 mile from Fleury-devant-Douaument to get a full flavour of the chronology of the war in this area, then stay on the D913 towards the Ossuary and you will pass a wooded area on your left, with parking by the side of the road - this is the destroyed village of Fleury-devant-Douaument.
There is a small chapel built on the site, and as you walk around the wooded area, you will see lots of signs saying that you are walking along a path that was once the main street through the original town, and also signs stating where the school, bakers, farms, Mayors office etc once stood.
All around you, the ground is full of craters where bombs fell - nothing now stands in this quiet and eerie forested area. Bring repellent with you, as there were a few mosquitoes when we visited.
Within the forest are several memorials along the trails.
There are no toilets here (or at nearby Fort Douaumont or Fort Vaux), but you can find toilets at the nearby Memorial Museum and the Ossuary.
Then proceed down the road to the Ossuary and pay the 5 Euro pp entrance fee to watch the short 20 min film, which was excellent in setting the scene of the soldiers who came to this area to fight for their countries; and finally, continue along the D913 for another 2-3 miles following signs for Fort Douaumont (bring a sweater as is it quite cool within the fort).
Inside the fort, you can pay 4 Euro for a personal IPOD & headset, and do the self-guided tour of the fort, hearing how the fort changed hands during the war and the events that occurred their.
Visit these 4 places for a comprehensive overview of the Verdun battles.
I would also urge you to visit Vauquois-En-Argonne along the D38, about 18 miles west of Verdun, so see the hilltop (Butte de Vauquois) where the French and Germans fought to take control of this significant lookout hill. Here you will find a small museum, original trenches and a memorial up on the hillside - no charge, but check timings as the museum was open when we arrived around 1pm, but closed soon after.
Start your trip at the nearby Verdun Memorial Museum (Satnav: 1 avenue du Corps Européen
55100 Fleury-devant-Douaumont 7Euro pp entrance fee), less than 1 mile from Fleury-devant-Douaument to get a full flavour of the chronology of the war in this area, then stay on the D913 towards the Ossuary and you will pass a wooded area on your left, with parking by the side of the road - this is the destroyed village of Fleury-devant-Douaument.
There is a small chapel built on the site, and as you walk around the wooded area, you will see lots of signs saying that you are walking along a path that was once the main street through the original town, and also signs stating where the school, bakers, farms, Mayors office etc once stood.
All around you, the ground is full of craters where bombs fell - nothing now stands in this quiet and eerie forested area. Bring repellent with you, as there were a few mosquitoes when we visited.
Within the forest are several memorials along the trails.
There are no toilets here (or at nearby Fort Douaumont or Fort Vaux), but you can find toilets at the nearby Memorial Museum and the Ossuary.
Then proceed down the road to the Ossuary and pay the 5 Euro pp entrance fee to watch the short 20 min film, which was excellent in setting the scene of the soldiers who came to this area to fight for their countries; and finally, continue along the D913 for another 2-3 miles following signs for Fort Douaumont (bring a sweater as is it quite cool within the fort).
Inside the fort, you can pay 4 Euro for a personal IPOD & headset, and do the self-guided tour of the fort, hearing how the fort changed hands during the war and the events that occurred their.
Visit these 4 places for a comprehensive overview of the Verdun battles.
I would also urge you to visit Vauquois-En-Argonne along the D38, about 18 miles west of Verdun, so see the hilltop (Butte de Vauquois) where the French and Germans fought to take control of this significant lookout hill. Here you will find a small museum, original trenches and a memorial up on the hillside - no charge, but check timings as the museum was open when we arrived around 1pm, but closed soon after.
Written July 6, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
nnmercman
Camberley, UK14,443 contributions
Sep 2016 • Friends
This is one of nine villages in the Verdun area which were completely destroyed and never rebuilt. The path through is accessed via the coach park side of the main museum and you wander through shell pocked woodland where the original houses and businesses once stood and are now marked. It's a good place to reflect on what happened over 100yrs ago and how the effects were not just on the military population.
Written September 17, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
W4711NL
New London, NH29 contributions
May 2014 • Solo
The museum is undergoing a major refit in preparation for the centennial. According to locals they don't expect re opening for a couple of years, Check their website for updates
Written June 30, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
FordPrefectII
Singapore, Singapore976 contributions
Sep 2011 • Couples
First off, just a clarification that this is Fleury-devant-Duoaumont, because there are quite a few Fleurys in France. Among all the Fleurys, this is probably the hardest to find.
Right until the WWI, Fleury was a little village pop. approx. 400, that changed little over time. Then during the war, Fleury changed almost overnight. The irreparable destruction of the village was no exaggeration, the village could not be rebuilt after the war.
There are plenty of signs and a storyboard describing the history of the quiet little spot of forest that Fleury is today. The village probably still exists bureaucratically, but it really is no more than just signs indicating where streets used to be.
Walking through the space, one is forced to re-create the village scene mentally. It was a powerfully moving experience, humbling to say the least, and from an empty space one walks away with quite a lot to think about.
Right until the WWI, Fleury was a little village pop. approx. 400, that changed little over time. Then during the war, Fleury changed almost overnight. The irreparable destruction of the village was no exaggeration, the village could not be rebuilt after the war.
There are plenty of signs and a storyboard describing the history of the quiet little spot of forest that Fleury is today. The village probably still exists bureaucratically, but it really is no more than just signs indicating where streets used to be.
Walking through the space, one is forced to re-create the village scene mentally. It was a powerfully moving experience, humbling to say the least, and from an empty space one walks away with quite a lot to think about.
Written March 18, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Martin F
Darwen, UK57 contributions
Jun 2011 • Couples
Likes... you can't "like" a memorial to carnage but you can certainly be extremely moved by it.
Dislike - mosquitos with a serious appetite!
We first wandered around this wooded site not actually knowing what we were looking at. The trail meanders through the trees and at intervals small signs on the edge of the path declare (in French sadly, that's why we didn't twig sooner) Boucher, or Maire etc. Then all of a sudden you realise that the mound of twisted and distorted earth you are looking at is all that's left of the village butcher's shop, ground into the mud over and over until not even a single brick remains to be seen.
Now fail to be moved by what amounts to the grave of a town.
Dislike - mosquitos with a serious appetite!
We first wandered around this wooded site not actually knowing what we were looking at. The trail meanders through the trees and at intervals small signs on the edge of the path declare (in French sadly, that's why we didn't twig sooner) Boucher, or Maire etc. Then all of a sudden you realise that the mound of twisted and distorted earth you are looking at is all that's left of the village butcher's shop, ground into the mud over and over until not even a single brick remains to be seen.
Now fail to be moved by what amounts to the grave of a town.
Written January 25, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
dianne m
manchester478 contributions
Oct 2017 • Solo
which is worth a visit on a fine day. A village which was completely destroyed during the war, only some memorials remain.
Written October 24, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Steven L
Syracuse, NY862 contributions
Apr 2016 • Couples
As the Battle of Verdun developed , the French command found it necessary to evacuate 9 villages to create lines of fire , territory to maneuver in and the safety of the residents. Because of the huge number of unexploded artillery in the area [ and shells are still being recovered] , the villagers were never allowed to return to their homes. The villages remain unoccupied to this day. By order of the French government in 1919 , each of the villages was given a committee and a mayor-like officer to allow them some kind of official recognition despite no longer existing. They all have small chapels as well. We visited Fleury in a quiet wooded section of the battlefield. Small wooden stakes pounded into the earth mark the places were homes once existed. Each stake has a small sign telling a visitor who lived there and what their occupation was. It's very sobering.
Written April 13, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
GeertL
Ghent, Belgium1,554 contributions
Nov 2015 • Couples
Fleury looks idyllic at first but knowing that this small village was fought so hard for during the Battle of Verdun gives the place an ominous feel. The little white markers are all that's left of Fleury and are a strong symbol of how war disrupted the lives of the former inhabitants.
Written January 10, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
VeganABZ
Doha, Qatar260 contributions
Jul 2014 • Family
A visit to Fleury is a visit to one of several villages that were completely obliterated during WWI, only small signs indicate where there was once a farm or a bakery or a school etc. Its hard to think that in this now wooded area, anonymous at the side of the road, there was once a busy village with people serving out their days in perfect peace before the bombs fell.
Not one for the children as there's not much to see - it's what you can't see that is worth going for.
Not one for the children as there's not much to see - it's what you can't see that is worth going for.
Written September 24, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Barbara V
Brisbane Region, Australia
Hello from Australia,
I am an author writing a novel about an Australian soldier in the Verdun in World war 1 and would like some information on the history of Fleury-Devant-Douamont, The Town That died for France, in this war. My late husband was French and an ex French soldier. I will dedicate my book to him. Thank you in advance, for any help you can give me. My grandfather Leslie Coverdale, fought in the Verdun and my great uncle his brother, was killed at Viliers Bretteneux.
Regards,
Barbara Vincent
Written March 15, 2015
Hello from Belgium.
Maybe will have you more answer by getting in touch via the site: verdun-meuse. fr section "contact"
Regards,
Séverine H.
Written March 28, 2015
Barbara V
Brisbane Region, Australia
Hello from Australia,
I am an author writing a novel about an Australian soldier in the Verdun in World war 1 and would like some information on the history of Fleury-Devant-Douamont, The Town That died for France, in this war. My late husband was French and an ex French soldier. I will dedicate my book to him. Thank you in advance, for any help you can give me. My grandfather Leslie Coverdale, fought in the Verdun and my great uncle his brother, was killed at Viliers Bretteneux.
Regards,
Barbara Vincent
Written March 15, 2015
C'est un lieu incontournable aussi important à visiter que les monuments officiels. Quand on découvre le panneau sur le bord de la route, votre sang se glace, une émotion vous envahit. La vue de ces vies détruites matérialisées par les bornes qui marquent les anciennes maisons du village, le boulanger, l'agriculteur, le coiffeur, l'école, tout cela maintenant au milieu des creux et des bosses des bombardements dans un lieu si paisible qui ne demandait qu'à vivre en paix, voir grandir les enfants. Il y a aussi les "boyaux" anciennes tranchées qui arrivent dans le village.
Written October 7, 2018
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