Lorraine at a Glance
Northeastern Lorraine's people have been at the centre of conflict for centuries.
The region, originally an independent kingdom, passed to France in 1766, only
to be ceded, along with Alsace,
to Germany a century later, following the Franco-Prussian War. The Treaty of
Versailles in 1919 returned Lorraine to France, but the Second World War saw
its occupation once again, this time by the Nazis. General Patton successfully
liberated the region in 1944. Lorraine is home to France's largest American
cemetery, where veterans make daily pilgrimages to the sides of the fallen.
A horrible battle at Verdun
during the First World War resulted in 700,000 casualties, and the haunting
Memorial
Ossuaire protects the remains of 130,000 unidentified soldiers. Bereaved
families sought solace at the Gothic Cathedrale
St-Etienne in Metz,
the region's capital, and Nancy
's museums house objets d'arts from Lorraine's intriguing past. Lorraine's
resilience birthed France's remarkable martyr, Joan of Arc, and in the tiny
village of Domremy-la-Pucelle
her modest childhood home, the Maison
Natale de Jeanne d'Arc, remains.
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