Abbaye-aux-Dames

Caen


Highlights at the Women’s Abbey complex in the east of the town centre, once run by the Benedictines, include Église de la Trinité – look for Matilda’s tomb behind the main altar and the striking pink stained-glass windows just beyond. Free tours (at 2.30pm and 4pm daily) take you through the interior, but you can snoop around the courtyard and the church on your own at other times, except during Mass.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Caen attractions

1. Musée des Beaux-Arts

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This excellent and well-curated museum takes you on a tour through the history of Western art from the 15th to 21st centuries, including works depicting…

2. Château de Caen

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Looming above the centre of the city, Caen’s magnificent castle walls – massive battlements overlooking a now dry moat – were established by William the…

3. Église St-Pierre

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Across from the Château de Caen, the soaring Église St-Pierre was built between the 13th and 16th centuries and was being renovated at the time of writing.

4. Église St-Georges

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Doubling as a very useful tourist information centre, this medieval church within the Château de Caen has gorgeous stained-glass works as well as several…

5. Maison des Quatrans

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The 15th-century Maison des Quatrans is one of only two prewar buildings left in the city centre near Château de Guillaume le Conquérant, though it lost a…

6. Donjon

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The castle's vast 12th-century donjon (keep) was pretty much destroyed after the French Revolution in the late 18th century, so little remains today…

7. Jardin des Simples

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The Jardin des Simples is a garden of medicinal and aromatic herbs cultivated during the Middle Ages, some of them poisonous.

8. Église St-Jean

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An earlier 12th-century church stood at this site where this 15th-century church stands today, with its beautiful stained-glass windows. The church was…