Castle of Caen

The Château de Caen is a castle in the Norman city of Caen in the Calvados département (Normandy). It has been officially classed as a Monument historique since 1997.

The castle was built c. 1060 by William the Conqueror (William of Normandy), who successfully conquered England in 1066. His son Henry I then built the Saint George's church, a keep (1123) and a large hall for the ducal Court.

On Christmas 1182, a royal court celebration for Christmas in the Aula of Caen Castle brought together Henry II and his sons, the future kings of England Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland, receiving more than a thousand knights.

Caen Castle, along with all of Normandy, was recaptured by the French Crown in 1204. Philip II reinforced the fortifications.

The castle saw several engagements during the Hundred Years' War (1346, 1417, 1450). The keep was pulled down in 1793 during the French Revolution, by order of the National Convention.

The castle, which was used as a barracks during World War II, was bombed in 1944 and seriously damaged.

In 1946, Michel de Boüard, an archeologist from Caen, decided to start excavations in the area of the castle to bring to the light medieval traces. The Musée des Beaux-Arts, which was installed in 1967, opened in 1971.

Now, you can gain access to a pass and tour the large castle, and visit the university located in the centre of the area.

The castle was constructed on a hillock and is now in the middle of the city. With an area of 5.5 hectares, it is one of the largest castles in Western Europe. It remained an essential feature of Norman strategy and policy.

the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen (Museum of Fine Arts of Caen) the Musée de Normandie (Museum of Normandy) along with many periodical exhibitions about arts and history, in the castle residence; Saint George's church; the Échiquier de Normandie (Exchequer of Normandy), used as a temporary hall of exhibitions, which seated the Court of Normandy; a garden showing plants cultivated in the Middle Ages.

The keep, now razed, had a large square section with round towers at each corner. As the castle, it was also surrounded by a moat. The dry moat still provides a circuit for walkers. The top of the ramparts offers a splendid view of Caen.

Text adapted from “Château de Caen” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Castle of Caen ranks #813 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #76 of the 469 mapped in France. Founded 1060, it is older than 90% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 317 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 7,036 times in the last 60 days, more than 89% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. It is one of the 16 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Normandy. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗