CITADELLE SOUTERRAINE DE VERDUN

On February 21, 1916, at 8:15 a.m., the German army launched its major offensive on Verdun. The first shells fell on the citadel. As planned, the garrison headquarters and certain civilian services took refuge in these galleries dug under 16 meters of rock. From then on, the citadel was organized like a small underground city with ceaseless activity: offices for the headquarters and its services, immense dormitories for the troops, powder and ammunition stores to supply the front, a bakery with nine bread ovens producing 41,000 rations a day, facilities for soldiers' rest and recreation, a telephone exchange, an infirmary, all lit by an electric power plant. Never hit by the bombardments, these underground galleries played a decisive moral and logistical role. Citadel Bakery during the Great War (zoom) Citadel Bakery during the Great War Symbolizing the resistance of an entire nation, the underground citadel hosted a moving ceremony on September 13, 1916. In the presence of French and Allied political figures and military authorities, the President of the Republic, Raymond Poincaré, presented eight honorary medals to representatives of the city of Verdun. Today, with 26 medals, Verdun is the most decorated city in France.