Intended to welcome and inform visitors wishing to learn more about the Battle of the Somme and the Great War through a trilingual permanent exhibition.
Near the Franco-British Memorial, the Thiepval site museum (opened in 2016) is dedicated to the battles of the Somme, in particular the one in 1916. It offers a singular visiting experience rich in information and charged with emotion. Unpublished and innovative in a museum of contemporary history, the panorama of the first day of the Battle of the Somme drawn by Joe Sacco is a documented and commemorative work. Presented on an imposing 60-meter long backlit display, it places the visitor as a spectator of the battlefield. Inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, and similar to a comic strip, it delivers both a historical and memorial narrative. Arranged in the center of the room in a glass-covered exhibition pit, archaeological relics, collectors' items, screens with archival images supported by a historical narrative, establish correspondences with scenes of the battle of July 1, 1916 reconstructed by Joe Sacco. This museum originality continues throughout the visit. The spaces dedicated to the German and French visions of the Battle of the Somme, the pictorial cartography of the rear, the room dedicated to the Missing, with relics and 90 portraits of the Missing, the space reserved for the Aces of Aviation, with the replica of the Nieuport plane flown by Georges Guynemer on the Somme, punctuate the visit which concludes with the memorial landscapes of the Somme. Thanks to the coupled ticket, complete your journey in History and Memories with the visit of the two museums of the Historial in Thiepval and in Péronne.
Before heading to the Thiepval Memorial, you must visit the visitor centre and new museum, which opened in 2016 and provides the keys to understanding the Battle of the Somme in an original and immersive way. In the museum lobby, learn more about the CWGC and the work it carries out caring for the battlefield memorials and cemeteries. Guided tours of the Thiepval Memorial are also available.
