After the museum, we drove to another part of town to see the beautiful abbey that is attached to the Hotel deVilles (city hall). The Abbey of Saint-Etienne, also known as Abbaye aux Hommes (men's abbey), is a former monastery founded by William the Conquerer. It, like almost all the buildings in Caen, is made of a beautiful yellowy, creamy limestone. (Following William's conquest of England, many famous buildings in Britain (like the Tower of London and Canterbury Cathedral) are also made of this beautiful and world famous limestone.
The abbey is absolutely beautiful and the cloisters are breathtaking. They're so peaceful and quiet. The cloister garden is surrounded on fours sides by this colonnade walkway (see pic at left). The arches cast the most beautiful shadows onto the smooth, worn stones of the walkway.
The picture to the right is a view of the twin spires of the church of the abbey (St. Etienne) as seen through one of the cloister arches.
The facade of the abbey is the oldest part. It dates back to the 11th century.
To the left is the tomb of William the Conquerer. He was the Duke of Normandy until he invaded and conquered England in 1066 and became the first Norman king of the country.
To the right is the interior of the abbey church. It was consecrated by William the Conquerer in 1077. This style is called Romanesque. I don't know very much about architecture, but I always love learning little bits about all the amazing buildings I see on our travels. If you're following this blog you'll probably see a LOT of churches in our pics, but I can't help it. They're just so beautiful, and no two are ever the same.
Below, is a picture of a church that was partially destroyed in WWII. It's no longer used, obviously, and you can see the remains of the wooden beams inside the arches. The french woman I talked to about it said that the people in Caen refer to it as the old St. Etienne's and the Hommes Abbaye (above) as the new St. Etienne's. I don't know if it really is older than one built in the 11th century, but the bombed out shell of it is every bit as beautiful to me! It has such a tragic history!
The final church I have to show you is the Church of St. Pierre up in the city center (in the old town). It is also very beautiful, but only has one tall spire that is black with years of coal and other pollutants. It's amazing to walk down the busy city streets and look up to see this gorgeous piece of architecture. And what's so amazing is that the whole old town of Caen is just as beautiful!
Ok, next up for Part 3 is the castle! I LOVE castles!!!!!
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