Standing between the Meuse valley and roads linking up the Argonne forest area and the Woëvre plain, Verdun was the setting for "a complete war in itself, inserted into the Great War". These words by the French poet Paul Valéry perfectly sum up the historic wealth of this town in the French département of La Meuse. Initially controlled by the Holy German Empire and the prelates, Verdun then came under the Kingdom of France and the bourgeoisie. It was the last French town to be freed from Prussian control (1871) and in 1916 it became the setting for a long and furious Great War battle between the Germans and French. A national symbol of the Resistance, Verdun is now the World Capital of Peace and boasts an outstanding historical and tourist-based heritage. This dynamic, friendly and cheerful town is today one of the most famous towns in France after Paris.