Varennes-en-Argonne

Varennes-en-Argonne
Varennes-en-Argonne
Commune
	Tower Louis XVI and the river Aire
	Coat of arms
	Location of Varennes-en-Argonne
	Varennes-en-Argonne Varennes-en-Argonne
	Coordinates: 49°13′37″N 5°02′06″E / 49.2269°N 5.035°E
Country	France
Region	Grand Est
Department	Meuse
Arrondissement	Verdun
Canton	Clermont-en-Argonne
Intercommunality	Montfaucon - Varennes en Argonne
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Jean-Marie Lambert
Area 1	11.81 km2 (4.56 sq mi)
Population (2021)	633
• Density	54/km2 (140/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	55527 /55270
Elevation	144–264 m (472–866 ft) ; (avg. 195 m or 640 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Varennes-en-Argonne or simply Varennes (German: Wöringen) is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est , in northeastern France.

Geography

Varennes-en-Argonne lies on the river Aire to the northeast of Sainte-Menehould, near Verdun.

History

It was the scene of the Flight to Varennes. In June 1791 Louis XVI, with his immediate family, made a dash for the nearest friendly border, that of the Austrian Netherlands in modern Belgium (Queen Marie-Antoinette being a sister to the Austrian emperor, Leopold II). But in Varennes Louis and his family were arrested, by Citizen Drouet, the local postmaster, who had been alerted by a message received from nearby Sainte-Menehould. It is said that at Sainte-Menehould, where the escaping party had spent the previous night, a merchant alerted the town authorities of their presence after recognizing the King's face on an Assignat, as Louis tried to buy something from a shop. Once more the royal family returned to the Tuileries in humiliating captivity, and Louis and Marie-Antoinette were subsequently guillotined in 1793.

Located in the Zone rouge, Varennes was completely destroyed during the First World War but was reconstructed afterwards. The Pennsylvania Memorial, a monument for volunteers from 28th Division Pennsylvania in the First World War, was erected in Varennes during the Interwar period.