Sights in Caen
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A
Mémorial – Un Musée pour la Paix
Situated 3km northwest of the city centre, this innovative memorial-museum provides an insightful and vivid account of the Battle of Normandy. Tickets bought after 1pm can be used to re-enter until 1pm the next day. All signs are in French, English and German.
The visit begins with a whistle-stop overview of Europe’s descent into total war, tracing events from the end of WWI and the Treaty of Versailles, through the rise of fascism in Europe and the German occupation of France, right up through the Battle of Normandy. It’s a hugely impressive affair, using sound, lighting, film, animation and audio testimony, as well as a range of artefacts and exhibits, to graphically ev…
reviewed
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B
Abbaye aux Hommes
This is one of Caen’s two Romanesque abbeys, which was founded in the mid-11th century by William the Conqueror and his wife, Matilda of Flanders, as part of a deal in which the Church pardoned these fifth cousins for having semi-incestuously married each other. With its magnificent and multiturreted Église St-Étienne, the Abbaye aux Hommes is near the western end of rue Écuyère. This was William’s final resting place, though the original tomb was destroyed by a 16th-century Calvinist mob and, in 1793, by fevered Revolutionaries – a solitary thighbone is all that’s left of Will’s mortal remains. Today, the 18th-century convent buildings house the town hall, and tours of t…
reviewed
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C
Château de Guillaume le Conquérant
Looming above the centre of the city and surrounded by a dry moat and massive battlements, the castle was established by William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, in 1060 and extended by his son Henry I. Visitors can walk around the ramparts, and visit the 12th-century Église St-Georges (open during temporary exhibitions) and the Échiquier (Exchequer), which dates from about 1100 and is one of the oldest civic buildings in Normandy. The Jardin des Simples is a garden of medicinal and aromatic herbs cultivated during the Middle Ages – some of them poisonous.
reviewed
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D
Château de Caen
Looming above the centre of the city from a domed hilltop, and surrounded by a dry moat, the Château de Caen was founded by William the Conqueror in 1060 and extended by his son Henry I. It has been used over the centuries by royals, revolutionaries, townsfolk and the military.
Take a walk around the ramparts and visit the 12th-century Chapelle de St-Georges and the Échiquier (Exchequer), which dates from about AD 1100 and is one of the oldest civic buildings in Normandy.
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E
Abbaye aux Dames
The counterpoint of the Abbaye aux Hommes is the Abbaye aux Dames at the eastern end of rue des Chanoines. The complex includes the Église de la Trinité. Look for Matilda’s tomb behind the main altar and for the striking pink stained-glass windows beyond. Free twice-daily tours take you through the interior in some detail, though you can snoop around yourself at other times outside of Mass.
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F
Musée des Beaux-Arts
This excellent and well-curated museum takes you on a tour through the history of Western art from the 15th to 21st centuries. The collection includes works by Rubens, Tintoretto, Géricault, Monet, Bonnard, Braque, Balthus and Dubuffet, among many others.
reviewed
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G
Musée de la Poste
The half-timbered, 16th-century Musée de la Poste is one of the two of the only prewar buildings left in the city centre near Château de Guillaume le Conquérant.
reviewed
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H
Maison des Quatrans
The 15th-century Maison des Quatrans is one of the two of the only prewar buildings left in the city centre near Château de Guillaume le Conquérant.
reviewed
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I
Musée de Normandie
This two-part museum looks at traditional life in Normandy and the region’s history and archaeology.
reviewed
