View from the exit of the Centre de la Mémoire towards new Oradour showing the out-of-hours exit & access gate
View from the tunnel that runs between the new (April 1999) Centre de la Mémoire and the ruins of Oradour. This new entry to the ruins comes out onto the old road to St. Junien, near to the well in which some bodies were found. Visible across the Centre is the church and main road through the new Oradour. The Centre has both been sunk into the ground in order to be unobtrusive and partly made of rusty ironwork; so as to give a feeling of age and controlled decay. Access to the Centre and the ruins is free, although there is a charge to visit the permanent display in the Centre, which includes a short film about Oradour and the events of 10th June 1944. Visible at the foot of the stairway is the lower entrance to the lift for disabled access (the upper entrance is on the path to the right of the top of the stairs). The small green gate on the right of the view, is the out-of-hours exit, which also acts as the access to the ruins when the Centre de la Mémoire is closed between 16th December and 31st January inclusive each year (in 2019 this out of hours / disabled access was being revised and if important to you, you should check first before relying on it).
© Michael Williams: December 2009