The Butte de Vauquois and the Mont des Allieux

(S/E) Leave the car park by returning to the side of the D212 road. Cross it carefully and take the path leading up to the town hall, which overlooks the D212. Walk past the town hall (you may wish to ask there for a map for a self-guided tour of the summit of the Butte de Vauquois).

Continue along the path heading west. Walk past the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Continue until you reach Rue Jules Pérot. Turn right onto Rue Jules Pérot, which climbs gently at first. Further on, the road turns sharply right and climbs straight up towards the summit of the hill, passing a car park on the edge of the woods, halfway up the slope.

(1) At the summit of the Butte de Vauquois, you can visit several sites at your leisure (see section: During the walk). Before leaving the summit, take in the view from the orientation table on the north side (facing the German rear) and, on the north-east side, the panorama towards the Meuse valley where Verdun is located.
Take the path that descends steeply down the hill towards the Ferme du Champ Mélinon. The path joins a small road leading to La Hardonnerie further east. Follow this road north-east

(2) At the T-junction, take the road on the right leading to La Hardonnerie. Before reaching it, turn right to go round the building on the right and join the path at the edge of the woods. The path goes round the woods covering the Côte Baillet. Further on, cross the D212 road with care and continue along the flat path at the edge of the woods on your right. The path eventually enters the woods. At the first junction with a path on the left, take the path that climbs straight up to the summit of Mont des Allieux at a T-junction.

(3) Take the path on the right heading south-west. The path quickly crosses the summit of Mont des Allieux before descending towards a widening valley. Follow the path to a dirt track. Turn right and take this track northwards, then north-west after crossing an intermittent stream. The track climbs gently up the side of a hillock and arrives at the Maize National Cemetery on the left-hand side (section: During the hike).

(4) At this point, the path gives way to a small road, Chemin André Pézard, which heads north. Further on, the road runs past the Vauquois cemetery on the right, then, a little further on, reaches the houses of Vauquois. At the crossroads, turn left into Rue du Général Deprez. About 150 metres further on, Rue du Général Deprez joins the D212 road. On the left-hand side, before the crossroads, you will see a wash house with a tiled roof in a small hollow in the ground.

(5) At the crossroads, take the D212 to the right and follow it carefully to reach the car park (S/E).

The car park is located at the foot of the Vauquois hill opposite the Town Hall, on the D212 road.
Access: from Verdun, take the D964. At Bras-sur-Meuse, take the D1154 to cross the Meuse and head towards Charny-sur-Meuse. There, take the D38 north-west, which follows the Meuse before turning off at Chattancourt. Continue on this road past Avocourt. After the foundry, turn left onto the D212.

This walk over varied terrain requires suitable footwear.

This walk presents no real difficulty in terms of navigation as it follows a Promenade et Randonnée (^PR®) trail almost from start to finish. In addition, it is advisable to follow the directions in the description and on the map, whilst keeping a close eye on the landscape. The waypoints (with their GPS coordinates and the distance from the starting point) serve as aids for walkers exploring the route for the first time.

__The time spent at the summit of the Butte is at your discretion and is in addition to the walking time indicated. Allow around 45 minutes to walk around the Butte.
For a more comprehensive visit, pick up the visitor map available at Vauquois Town Hall__ and from:
Association Les Amis de Vauquois et de sa région 1 rue d’Orléans 55270 - Vauquois

The Butte de Vauquois
A land where, for four long years, the Great War left its mark, forever scarring the ground.
A lunar landscape, a hill cut in two by craters 10 to 20 metres wide separating the German front lines from the French lines. Such was the sight of the hill in 1918 that the American soldiers who came to liberate it would remember.
How could anyone imagine that five years earlier, a village of 168 inhabitants stood there with its bell tower...
Here, trench warfare gave way to tunnel warfare: unable to advance on the surface, control of the underground became a necessity. Thus began the digging of the vast network of underground tunnels beneath the Vauquois hill.
A site well worth a visit, unique in its authenticity, preserved intact since 1918, studied and restored through the voluntary efforts of the ‘Association des Amis de Vauquois et de sa Région’.
To find out more, particularly about its history:

Like an open-air book, the Vauquois hill has provided the answers to all questions of remembrance for the past 100 years. Standing 70 metres high, 500 metres long and 100 metres wide, it is situated on the front line, to the right of the Argonne Forest and to the left of Verdun.
It is important to note that almost every means of killing was tested here during the 1,500 days of war: mines, flamethrowers, gas, and explosive devices of all kinds. The toll? 15,000 dead

Visit the site:
La Butte, a site listed as a Historic Monument of the 1914–1918 War, featuring:
• Its War Memorial
• Its Commemorative Building (museum)
• Its remains from the 1914–18 war, forever etched into the ground
• Its mine craters
• Its French and German above-ground and underground installations
• Its permanent exhibition dedicated to concrete blocks
• A unique panoramic view (altitude 290m)
Surface visits are free and open all year round.

You can explore freely, moving anti-clockwise:
- a crater, the result of a mine explosion
- the site of the church (commemorative plaque)
- the site of the Town Hall (plaque)
- the Monument to the Combatants and Fallen of Vauquois
- the French^front line
- "the double Feldwache 3 observation post": Blochaus at the eastern entrance: this is a guard post, sentry post or Feldwache.
- the German^second line: observation post restored by the Friends of Vauquois.
- the German tunnel entrance
For information on the museum and guided tours, please visit the association’s website.
Source: website of the Association des Amis de Vauquois et de sa Région

The Vauquois monument was erected on the initiative of the veterans’ associations of the 46th, 31st, 76th and 89th Infantry Regiments, to honour the memory of those who fell in the 5th Army Corps. It was completed on the site of the former town hall at the end of 1925.

Church of the Immaculate Conception
The Church of the Immaculate Conception, rebuilt in 1928.

Notable figures associated with the town
General Céleste Deprez (1855–1940), a general during the First World War, born in Vauquois. He contributed to the town’s post-war reconstruction.
Among ‘those from Vauquois’, the name given to those who took part in the Battle of Vauquois:

Henri Collignon (1856–1915), prefect and former Secretary-General to the President of the Republic, who enlisted as a volunteer at the age of 58 and was killed in action at Vauquois. A memorial stone at the foot of the hill has been erected in his memory.
Auguste Chaillou (1866–1915), a doctor and former researcher at the Pasteur Institute, killed in action at Vauquois.
Lucien-Émile Dropsy (1886–1915), sculptor and medallist, killed in action at Vauquois.
Source: Wikipedia (excerpts)

The French National Necropolis of La Maize
35 km west of Verdun, to the east of the Argonne Forest, the Aire Valley stretches from north to south, through which the road to Varennes runs. On either side stand two hills: to the left, the imposing Argonne massif; to the right, the Butte de Vauquois, atop which the old village once stood at an altitude of 290 metres, forming an exceptional vantage point. The necropolis is situated 500 metres south of the village. It is surrounded by forest and fields.
Naturally bounded by the surrounding forest and situated on sloping ground, it contains 4,368 bodies, 1,970 of which are in the ossuary. A few shrubs mark its entrance, which consists of a single white limestone pilaster. It is adorned with a polychrome decoration: a laurel branch entwined with a sword and a war cross. The plaque ‘National Necropolis / Vauquois’ is affixed below. On the rear side is a hatch containing the register and the visitors’ book. The 2,398 individual crosses and headstones (Catholic, Muslim, Jewish and for freethinkers) are arranged symmetrically across the large grassed area on either side of the central path, leading to the two terraced ossuaries situated on either side of the central monument. These ossuaries, bordered by a low stone wall, are hidden beneath the vegetation. Plaques bear the names of 284 known soldiers, their infantry regiment and sometimes their rank, along with the inscription ‘1,686 unknown’ for the others. Behind this stands an altar surmounted by a slender cross, behind the flagpole bearing the French flag. The monument is bordered by cast concrete shells linked together by a green metal chain. A round mosaic edged in turquoise adorns the intersection of the arms of the calvary; its central motif depicts a Croix de Guerre.
From September 1914 to September 1918, the two armies fought doggedly to gain control of the hill. By mid-March 1915, the village had been recaptured and lost four times. Then, on both sides, the digging of mine galleries began: 519 explosions were recorded. By June 1918, the French had withdrawn their equipment to the rear and sealed the tunnels, whilst a German garrison defended its position to the bitter end against the American offensive. By the end of the war, the old village had completely disappeared and could never be rebuilt on its original site.

Created in 1923, in a lunar landscape, this necropolis holds the remains of soldiers killed in the fighting at the Butte de Vauquois, as well as the remains exhumed in 1924 from 22 temporary cemeteries in the Vauquois-Cheppy region and the Forest of Hesse.
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Today, Vauquois stands as a unique site in the history and memory of the Great War. A symbol of this fierce struggle, this necropolis serves as a memorial to 10,000 soldiers buried there forever. Remains are frequently discovered there.
For further information:
Source: First World War burial and memorial sites – Western Front