4 Iconic Buildings to Explore in Normandy

Caen Castle is one of the largest medieval enclosures in Europe. It was built of Caen stone around 1060. It stood first and foremost as a place of power, where the Dukes of Normandy and Kings of England regularly held their major assemblies. It is now home to the Musée de Normandie and the Musée des Beaux-Arts. Its terrace and ramparts command fine views over the town and there is also a public park surrounding this castle.

Château Gaillard is a 12th-century castle built by Richard the Lion-Heart on the Andelys cliff overlooking the Seine River in France. The castle was long plundered for its stones as building materials so that by 1573 it had already dissolved into an uninhabited ruin. In 1862, Château Gaillard was designated a Monument Historique. It was also one of the earliest European castles to use machicolations.

It is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. An important medieval pilgrimage destination, Mont Saint-Michel is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Both the 11th- to 13th-century Abbey of Saint-Michel and the Bay of Saint-Michel are protected under this designation. The island has had strategic fortifications since ancient times. It is 247 acres in size and it has a population of 44. People that live there are called the Montois.

The Benedictine Palace is a building mixing styles Gothic and neo-Renaissance, built in the late XIXth century to Fecamp for Alexander The Great Prosper, a dealer in spirits and who made his fortune by inventing and selling liqueur Benedictine. It contains a museum presenting various collections of carved ivories, coins, locks, old religious paintings and so more, and also there is an exhibition space dedicated to contemporary art was created in 1988.