The museum with 70,000 objects and documents from the First World War in Meaux is preparing a trench for an immersive experience.
Visitors will be immersed in the heart of a corridor 100 meters long and 800 m².
Everything is done so that visitors arrive like real recruits to the troops.
“They will go down into the trench to have the impression of being underground like back then,”
explains the museum management.
There is an artillery post, a cagna (shelter), a tunnel for listening to enemy troops, communication hoses and a no man's land.
Everything is there.
“It’s for educational purposes.
There is nothing spectacular
,” specifies Jean-François Copé, president (LR) of the Pays de Meaux urban community.
Accessible from 5 years old, the museum which belongs to the community of urban areas of Meaux follows a rigorous historical and scientific approach.
The place, which records 100,000 admissions per year,
“already presents two small pieces of indoor trenches”
, adds the management.
Every year, a new exhibition is presented.
Last year, two refurbished wagons entered the museum.
One was used to transport troops and horses, the other to transport ammunition.
For this new development, the 3000 m² exhibition museum was inspired by the work of the historian François Cochet, curator of an exhibition dedicated to the trenches at the museum in 2022. The work should begin next month and open on the 11th. November 2024. Cost of the operation: 1.3 million euros.