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At the heart of
Caen is the Caen Castle or Chateau. Archeological artifacts demonstrate
that people have lived on this limestone bluff since the Viking invasions
of the 7th or 8th centuries. The town that became Caen, had its beginning
in 1025. It was William who in about 1050, ordered the castle to be built.
Of course, like many other ancient structures, the castle has gone through
many changes, decline, destruction, and restoration. |
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Within the walls of the castle are several
buildings, this is one of them. In front of the building stood William's
palace. Only remnants of the foundation are now visible. The building
seen here was also built by William - it was a huge banquet hall on the
second story and kitchens, etc., on the first floor. This building is
a reconstruction. This building is known as the "Exchequer."
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Also within the
walls of the castle, is another old, but reconstructed, building - the Church
of St. George. This was the parish church of the castle and dates from the
12th century. |
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This view gives
you an idea of the height of the castle walls. Parts of the castle were
also adjacent to a deep, waterless moat. |
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The is the south
entrance to the castle. You can see the moat, the bridge over the moat,
and a bridge to get to the gate. Now, lets go outside the castle walls and
look at some other important sites in Caen. |
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Just outside the
south entrance to the castle is the Church of St. Pierre. The first structure
was built here in the 7th century. This structure was built in the 13th
century then reconstructed after 1944. At the time of the Norman dukes,
this parish was the richest in Caen. The steeple is Norman Gothic. |
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This view is from
the southeast side of the Church of St. Pierre. It is a significant structure
in the center of Caen. |
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Old Caen is essentially a narrow, one
mile strip that stretches between the abbeys built by William and Matilda.
Going west from the castle and the Church of St. Pierre is Rue St. Pierre
(St. Pierre Street). Along that street are two timber-framed houses shown
here. They date from the 15th century and are the last wooden buildings
standing in Caen. Actually, only the facades are wood, the rest of the
buildings are stone. You will see that most buildings in Caen are constructed
with Caen limestone, a light colored limestone.
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Farther west up
the street is the Church of Notre-Dame-de Froiderue. A church has stood
on this site since the beginning of Caen, but this structure dates to the
14th century. Like all other churches in Caen, for a long time there were
no chairs or pews in the nave of the church. Initially, the parish purchased
200 bales of straw to spread out over the floor during mass. |
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Adjacent to the
Church of Notre Dame, on Rue Froide, is this 16th century mansion.The walls
are two meters thick. |
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This is Rue Froide,
a great example of a long, narrow, winding, Medieval street. It runs north
and south so the cold north wind blows through during the winter. The center
of the street drains rain water, a Middle Age drainage system. This street
has bookstores, cafes, and other interesting shops. |
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Every town has its poet, Caen is no exception.
This is the mansion of Francois de Malherbe. I wasn't going to include
a photo of this house, but the guidebook had an interesting bit of information.
One of Malherbe's students, Racan, wrote, "He [Malherbe] was tall
and handsome but he spluttered all the time, a fact which caused the knight
Marin to remark that he had never seen such a wet man, nor such a dry
poet."
The city of Caen has not forgotten their
poet. A secondary school, a stadium, and even the football team are named
after him.
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Farther to the
west, we come to the Place Fontette. One of the most imposing structures
on the Place or square is the Palace of Justice, the court building. It
dates from the last half of the 18th century. |
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One of the most
impressive structures in Caen is the Abbey for Men, built on the order of
William at the request of the Pope. This is the west portion of the complex.
It is here, in the church of the abbey, where one of William the Conqueror's
femurs is buried. He died in Rouen, but before he died, he asked to be buried
in Caen. During the Wars of Religion, Protestants opened William's tomb
and scattered all of his bones with the exception of one femur. |
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This is the east
side of the monks (men's) Abby complex. The church is on the right (where
William's femur is buried) and the abbey portion of the complex is on the
left. |
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Caen has a skyline
filled with many church steeples. This is the Church of St. Etienne-le-Vieux.
Part of the old city wall can be seen extending to the left side of the
church. This church dates from the 13th century. It was badly damaged during
bombing raids of 1944. |
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I am now walking
east back toward the old city center. Along the way I passed through this
square, the Place of St. Sauveur. According the historical sources it is
the oldest square in Caen. Ever since the town existed, this has been the
main Monday and Wednesday market site. A statute of Louis XIV stands in
the center. |
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The Tower of Leroy
was restored at the beginning of the 20th century. It is the only high tower
remaining in the city. It formed part of the ramparts surrounding the Bourg-le-Roi
(an area just south of the castle walls) and the castle. This relic marked
the entrance to the town by river. Although nearly ten miles inland, Caen
is a seaport. It was first an estuary port then later a canal was constructed. |
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As part of the
Women's (Nun's) Abbey is the Church of the Holy Trinity. Matilda ordered
this complex constructed after the Pope sanctioned her marriage to William.
It dates to 1060. This is at the east end of the narrow, old city center.
It is also the site where Matilda is buried. |
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This is Matilda's
grave. At this place in the church it was rather dark, but you can see the
black stone covering her grave and the large piece of glass that protects
it. Matilda has lain here since 1083, the year of her death. |
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This is the interior of the Church of
the Holy Trinity. Matilda is buried in the dark portion at the end. You
can see the brightness of the interior of this church. It is well lit
and constructed of the light-colored Caen limestone.
Caen stone refers to a series of limestone
layers varying in depth and found anywhere around Caen. William was the
first to use this stone to build his castle and other structures. Today,
there are around 300 hectares of underground quarries under greater Caen.
Caen stone has been used to construct the Tower of London, Westminster
Abbey in London, the Royal Palace in Brussels, and other structures around
the world.
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This was the site
of the Church of St. Gilles. It was destroyed during the Allied bombing
raids of 1944. |
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The Church of
St. Sepulcre stands opposite the west gate to the castle and dates from
1219. Its name comes from the shape of the original building which had exactly
the same ground plan as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. |
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In conclusion
of our tour of Caen, I end with two photos. The one here is Caen after Allied
bombing in June and July 1944. The city was almost totally destroyed. If
you look carefully, you can see what is left of the Church of St. Pierre
- in the upper right quadrant of the photo. |
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This is the Basin of St. Pierre - the
access point for pleasure boats. This is the sight I saw as I walked from
the train station to my hotel. It is a beautiful city with the aroma of
bakeries on every street. One would never know of the 1944 destruction
after viewing all of the photos shown above. But, the city has risen from
rubble and rebuilt structures important to its past as well as modern
residences and businesses.
I hope you have enjoyed Caen as much as
I have!
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