Douaumont ossuary

The Douaumont ossuary is a monument and memorial containing the remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield during the battles of Verdun in World War I. It is located nearby the remains of the Fleury-devant-Douaumont village in the area of the Verdun battlefield. The monument has been designated as a cemetery of the national importance. During the war, the village was completely destroyed and the land was degraded to such an extent that it was not possible to rebuild it. The area around the village was contaminated by decaying corpses, reains of unexploded grenades and poisonous gas, so the framing activities were not possible.

On the inside of the ossuary building, the ceiling and walls are partly covered by plaques bearing names of French soldiers who fell during the Battle of Verdun.

The architects of the ossuary were Léon Azéma, Max Edrei and Jacques Hardy. Artist George Desvallières designed the stained glass windows. The tower of the ossuary is 46 meters (151 ft) high.

The ossuary was officially inaugurated on 7 August 1932 by French President Albert Lebrun.

In front of the monument, and sloping downhill is situated the largest single French military cemetery of the First World War with 16,142 graves.

The cemetery is with the christian monuments and islamic monuments on the graves of the fallen soldiers.

text source: information board at memorial of Douaumont village.