carry out the development work, which involved excavating a further two metres (six feet) beneath the dome, clearing out and completing the unfinished concreting of some of the tunnels, building an exhibition centre and car park in the quarry floor and installing a lift to carry visitors up from the octagon to the dome. The museum opened in May 1997. Visitors enter and leave through the Ida railway tunnel, though the rails have been removed and the floor levelled. Short branch tunnels lead off on either side; originally used for storage, they now display wartime objects. Headphone stands along the way present multi-lingual accounts of the construction and purpose of the facility. The tour continues along the Mathilde tunnel to reach a lift that has been installed to bring visitors up to the space beneath the dome, where the main exhibition area is located. Focusing on the story of the V-weapons, life in occupied France, and the conquest of space after the war, the tour presents audio-visual displays in English, French, Dutch and German. The museum houses a large number of original artifacts including a V-1 provided by London's Science Museum and a V-2 provided by the Smithsonian Institution, and incorporates a memorial to the 8,000 people who were shot in or deported from the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region during the war; computer terminals track the paths of several hundred of the deportees. In 2011, the museum welcomed 120,000 visitors. In July 2012, the museum opened a planetarium as part of Cerendac, a newly established Centre de ressources numériques pour le développement de l'accès à la connaissance (Resource Centre for the development of digital access to knowledge). The €6 million centre is funded by the Pas-de-Calais department, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, the French state, the European Union and the intercommunality of Saint-Omer. Since 2010, the museum has also managed the V-3 site of the Fortress of Mimoyecques. See also Blockhaus d'Éperlecques Fortress of Mimoyecques Notes References Citations Bibliography Further reading External links La Coupole – museum website V2ROCKET.COM Wizernes Bunker – La Coupole – virtual tour La Coupole d'Helfaut-Wizernes – background information V-weapon subterranea World War II in the Pas-de-Calais Museums in Pas-de-Calais World War II museums in France Museums established in 1997 Infrastructure completed in 1944 Buildings and structures in Pas-de-Calais Domes Ruins in Hauts-de-France World War II sites in France