Verdun Attractions

The old and much fought-over fortified town of Verdun lies at what is strategically the most important crossing of the Meuse, on the road between the Rhine and Paris. Surrounded by fortified hills, Verdun was one of France's strongest fortresses in the First World War.

The Roman town on this site was called Virodunum, and became the see of a bishop in the third C. When, under the treaty of Verdun in 843, Charlemagne's Frankish empire was split up into the three territories of France, Germany and Lorraine Verdun was at first included in Lorraine, but in 870 passed to the East Frankish kingdom, and then, under the name of Virten, became a free imperial city in the Holy Roman Empire.