A reconstruction of the command bunker where General Christian de Castries commanded the French garrison during the 57-day siege. The original was demolished after the battle; the current structure is a 1984 replica, built on the approximate site of the original, with period furnishings and a model of the battlefield installed for visitors.
The bunker is small and the reconstruction modest, but the location gives some sense of scale: standing at the command post and looking toward the surrounding hills, you understand both why the valley was chosen — it seemed defensible — and why the decision proved catastrophic. The hills that dominate the position were the ones from which Viet Minh artillery fired down onto the garrison for nearly two months. A short path connects the bunker to the field of French graves nearby.