Écausseville airship hangar

The Écausseville airship hangar is a large concrete and steel structure that dominates the landscape with its imposing form. Inside, visitors find a museum, exhibition spaces about wartime events, and the main hangar space with its original industrial architecture.

The French Navy built this hangar in 1917 to house airships that patrolled the Channel coast during World War I. After the war ended, it was repurposed by different military forces and later converted for entirely different uses.

The walls still display graffiti left by American soldiers who used the hangar as a repair workshop after World War II. These markings show how foreign troops lived and worked in the region during the occupation.

The hangar is located in a rural area and is best reached by car, as it sits outside any town center. Plan time to explore all sections, as the space is quite large to walk through.

From 1967 to 1969, the hangar served as a testing facility for balloons designed for French nuclear experiments. This unexpected use shows how the building was repurposed for entirely new technological projects long after its original role.