La Coupole

La Coupole - This is one of the most massive relics that Nazi Germany left in France during its occupation of the country in WWII : a gigantic concrete dome under which an assembly hall for V2 missiles was hidden and a warren of underground tunnels for delivery, fuel production, storage, maintenance and so forth. No missiles were actually fired from here because the site remained unfinished, was bombed by the Allies and eventually captured and made unusable. After many decades of lying derelict and abandoned the site was turned into the present museum and memorial in 1997. An absolute must-see in the Pas-de-Calais region. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: When the V2 missile (aka ‘A4’), developed and tested at Peenemünde , became operational and went into serial production, especially at the underground site of Mittelbau-Dora , Hitler decided to use the new “wonder weapon” to attack England , in particular London , on a massive scale. Given the inaccuracy of the missile it was a sheer terror weapon, indiscriminately causing destruction and killing mostly civilians. Somehow it was hoped that this would turn around the fortunes of the Third Reich , which had already begun losing the war on the Eastern Front. In total some 6,500 V2s were built. To step up this campaign of firing missiles at London, special bases were constructed from March 1943 in the Pas-de-Calais region of northern France .