On the trail of William the Conqueror

Eglise Saint-Pierre from the Château

Caen (week 2)

Back to Caen today to see the central old city.  It's an interesting mix of old and new (and faux-old) because much of the city was destroyed in the fighting in 1944.  Unlike Bayeux, which completely escaped the fighting, the core of Caen contains multi-story carparks, modern apartment buildings, etc.  Even some of the supposedly old buildings are rebuilds - for example the spire of Eglise St.-Pierre, right in the centre of town (the rest of the church is mostly the original started in the 12th-century).  A couple blocks away are the ruins (closed off) of another church, Eglise Saint-Etienne-le-Vieux.  The front façade is intact (except the windows) but all that's left of the rest is one wall of the nave.  You can see the skeletal supports for the second level through the vacant windows.

Tomb of Guillaume le Conquérant

The old city is built around a 3-site axis, of buildings built by William the Conqueror: L'Abbaye-aux-Hommes in the west, the Château ducal in the centre, and L'Abbaye-aux-Dames in the east.  We started with the Château.  Much of the newest fortifications are intact, and you can walk the walls.  William's exchequer building and chapel are also intact and visitable.  The foundations of the original keep are visible, but they are excavating and digging there, so they are off limits.  We then went over to the Abbaye-aux-Hommes and saw the tomb of William in the abbey church.  We didn't have time to go over to the other abbey.

To celebrate the end of our second week in France, we had McDonald's for lunch.