Mémorial de la Résistance en Vercors

About the museum

The Mémorial de la Résistance en Vercors is located at the Col de la Chau, in the commune of Vassieux-en-Vercors. It is set into the mountain, just as the men and women who went into hiding did, and it offers a panorama over the Vassieux plain and the massif. In 2024, the building received the “Architecture contemporaine remarquable” label.

The Vercors was a major center of the Resistance. In July 1944, the Germans sent several thousand soldiers against the massif. The Memorial is not an object museum: it stages the events, with visual and sound atmospheres, a documentary made of previously unreleased archive footage projected onto a model, and testimonies from people who lived through that period.

The route also includes a space devoted to commitment and a film on the traces of the Resistance in the landscape and in people’s consciences. It ends on a viewpoint. The Memorial is run by the Parc naturel régional du Vercors and is part of the network of Resistance sites in the Vercors; it also hosts contemporary art projects.

Highlights

• Immersive self-guided visit with headsets and audio guides
• Documentary made of unreleased archive footage projected onto a model of the massif
• Testimonies from people who experienced the events of 1944
• Viewpoint over the Vassieux plain and the Vercors massif
• Building with the “Architecture contemporaine remarquable” label

Permanent exhibition

• Parcours immersif du Mémorial – A self-guided visit with headset and audio guide: visual and sound atmospheres, an archive documentary on a model, testimonies, a space on commitment and a film on the traces of the Resistance, up to the viewpoint.

Operated by

Parc naturel régional du Vercors

Admission & discounts

The reduced rate is obtained with a proof document to be downloaded before the visit. The Memorial also offers an ambassador card: after a first paid entry, the holder can return free of charge for the rest of the current year. A 2- or 3-site ticket gives the reduced rate for the Musée départemental de la Résistance and the Musée de la Préhistoire du Vercors, in Vassieux. Payment by cash, card, holiday vouchers, Top Départ card, Pass Région or ANCV Connect.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

According to the Memorial, the venue is fully accessible and a wheelchair is available. Reserved spaces are in front of the entrance: drive into the bus car park, then take the footbridge to the reception.

Kids & families

A family package is offered (2 adults and 2 children aged 8 to 18). The child rate starts at age 8.

Getting there & parking

From Valence, come via La Chapelle-en-Vercors; from Grenoble, via Villard-de-Lans; from Die, via the Col de Rousset. The roads in the Vercors are mountain roads, sometimes closed for roadworks, and the height of some tunnels does not allow all coaches to pass.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

A bookshop area offers books on the Vercors, the Second World War and the Resistance.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit