The village of Craonne, now famous for the “Chanson de Craonne”, was the scene of bitter fighting between the French and Germans at the start of the First World War. In April-May 1917, what remained of the village was destroyed by French artillery. The site was then classified as a “red zone”, and a “new” village was rebuilt below from 1921 to 1927, thanks in particular to help from Sweden, which financed the town hall. The “Vieux Craonne” site is managed by the Office National des Forêts, and today hosts an arboretum, a micro-walk (punctuated by a number of information panels that help retrace the traces of the old village), as well as three Jardins de la Paix (German, Italian and Moroccan)…
Vestiges du vieux village de Craonne et son arboretum
