World War I's battle of Verdun was fought from February to December 1916, and resulted in over 700,000 casualties and the destruction of many villages--trench warfare at its worst. The main structure in the memorial park (kind of like visiting our National Park's Gettysburg battlefield) is the Ossuary, which holds the remains of over 130,000 soldiers from both sides, many of them unidentified. We arrived at 6pm, as the bell tolled its solemn Angelus that echoed out over the peaceful countryside.