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- See also the Romanesque architecture erected by the Normans at Norman architecture.
The architecture of Normandy spans a thousand years.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2009) |
The architecture of Normandy spans a thousand years.
In Upper Normandy and in the pays d'Auge, Mortainais, Passais and Avranchin (Lower Normandy), [1] the vernacular domestic architecture is typically half-timbered and thatched.
The half-timbered farmhouses scattered across the countryside are inherited from an older tradition that has its roots in the Celtic farms, the remains of which have been excavated by archeologists. A particular style of farmstead called clos masure or cour-masure developed in the Pays de Caux as a result of the harsher landscape of that area and local tradition, which has been influenced by English and Danish styles.
Brick and flintstone were later used to build or rebuild some of the cottages and public buildings, such as town halls. Some villages of the pays de Caux and the Pays de Bray were entirely rebuilt this way.
The other parts of Lower Normandy, especially the Cotentin Peninsula, tends to use granite as the predominant local building material. The Channel Islands also share this influence – Chausey was for many years a source of quarried granite, including stone for the construction of Mont Saint-Michel. The Caen plain and the area of Bessin use the traditional unusually hard limestone, called Caen stone.
Like almost everywhere in France, the oldest houses in the main cities are half-timbered, but there are more widespread in Haute-Normandie and there are more recent examples.
Unfortunately, the urban architectural heritage of mainland Normandy was badly damaged during the Battle of Normandy in 1944. Many historic urban centres were destroyed, notably in Caen, Rouen, Lisieux and perhaps most tragically in Valognes, once known as the "Versailles of Normandy" for its aristocratic mansions and palaces. Massive post-war urban reconstruction in the 1950s and 1960s, such as in Le Havre and Saint-Lô, has left modernist interventions.
One of the particularities of this region is that one can discover a lot of castles and manors during a journey. That part of the French territory has been marked by the presence of the English administration and troops before, and during the Hundred Years' War. [2] [3] The religious wars gave to this region a typical style of buildings as well. [4] From the Late Middle Ages to the Renaissance, Normandy evolved under England's architectural influence. That's why there are so many manors there. This type of building can only be found in Normandy and Brittany, in France. It has been brought by the English administration under the reign of the Plantagenets. The manoir du Catel and the Manoir du Clap are quite typical of that kind of architecture.
From the 17th century to the end of the 19th, Normandy became a very flourishing earldom and many noble families decided to build castles there. The castle is not a defending place anymore, and becomes a reflection of one's wealth. The chateau de Bosmelet is an example of that type of chateau.
The confident church architecture such as at Lessay and Bayeux has left its mark on the landscape, as well as an artistic legacy in literature and in art, for example Claude Monet's series of Impressionist paintings of the Rouen Cathedral's Gothic facade.
The south part of Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, which is called Belle Époque district is filled with superb bourgeois villas with polychrome façades, bow windows and unique roofing. This area, built between 1886 and 1914, has an authentic "Bagnolese" style and is typical of high-society country vacation of the time.
Normandy is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Rouen is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population of the metropolitan area is 702,945 (2018). People from Rouen are known as Rouennais.
Caen is a commune 15 km (9.3 mi) inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants, while its functional urban area has 470,000, making Caen the second largest urban area in Normandy and the 19th largest in France. It is also the third largest commune in all of Normandy after Le Havre and Rouen.
Upper Normandy is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Upper and Lower Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy.
Bavent is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France.
Lisieux is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland.
The Pays de Caux is an area in Normandy occupying the greater part of the French département of Seine Maritime in Normandy. It is a chalk plateau to the north of the Seine Estuary and extending to the cliffs on the English Channel coast; its coastline is known as the Côte d'Albâtre. In the east, it borders on the Pays de Bray where the strata below the chalk show through.
Flamboyant is a form of late Gothic architecture that developed in Europe in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, from around 1375 to the mid-16th century. In the French timetable of styles, as defined by French scholars, it is the fourth phase of Gothic style, preceded by Primary Gothic, Classic Gothic and Rayonnant Gothic.
The Church of Saint-Pierre is a Roman Catholic church located on the Place Saint-Pierre in the centre of Caen in Normandy, northern France. It is dedicated to Saint Peter.
The Château d'Ételan is a historical building in the commune of Saint-Maurice-d'Ételan in the Seine-Maritime département in Normandy, France. Situated on the right bank of the Seine between the Brotonne and Tancarville bridges, the Château d’Ételan commands a site overlooking the final loop of the river Seine.
French Gothic architecture is an architectural style which emerged in France in 1140, and was dominant until the mid-16th century. The most notable examples are the great Gothic cathedrals of France, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, Reims Cathedral, Chartres Cathedral, and Amiens Cathedral. Its main characteristics are verticality, or height, and the innovative use of the rib vault and flying buttresses and other architectural innovations to distribute the weight of the stone structures to supports on the outside, allowing unprecedented height and volume. The new techniques also permitted the addition of larger windows, including enormous stained glass windows, which fill the cathedrals with light.
Ouville-l'Abbaye is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France.
The Parlement of Rouen, also known as the Parlement of Normandy after the place where it sat, was a provincial parlement of the Kingdom of France. It replaced the ancient court of the exchequer of Normandy, set up by Rollo, first duke of Normandy.
Norman Switzerland is a part of Normandy, France, in the border region of the departments Calvados and Orne. Its name comes from its rugged and verdant relief resembling the Swiss Alps, with gorges carved by the river Orne and its tributaries, and by erosion in the Armorican Massif between Putanges-Pont-Écrepin and Thury-Harcourt. The river has created a rugged landscape.
TER Normandie is the regional rail network serving the region of Normandy, northwestern France. It is operated by the French national railway company SNCF. It was formed in 2016 from the previous TER networks TER Basse-Normandie and TER Haute-Normandie, after the respective regions were merged.
The "family of Tancarville" was of Norman stock, of likely Scandinavian descent, originating in the Pays de Caux, from that of the Viking Tancredus, companion of Rollo, in the conquest of northern France. Tancrède's progeny remaining closely tied to the royal family, becoming the hereditary Chamberlains of Normandie and of England, as well as many other crown offices. This family was known as "in the highest ranks of the Anglo-Norman aristocracy, the lords of Tancarville".
The Prieuré de l'Oiselière is a priory located at Saint-Planchers, near Granville, in France. Nestled in a valley bordering the watercourse that bears its name, surrounded by fortified walls and moats, its history dates back to the 12th century. It was a dependency of the abbots of Mont-Saint-Michel who organised the cultivation of the fields and the woods and collected taxes. It was also a local justice court.
Bernay Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in Bernay, Eure, France. The designers of its abbey church were ahead of their time, making it one of the first examples of Romanesque architecture in Normandy. It shows the early evolution of that style, its decorative elements and its building techniques.
The Manoir du Clap is a manor house located in the village of La Cerlangue, in Upper Normandy. The domain of "Le Clap" also includes old stables, an ancient shed, and some other buildings. The older part of the house was built at the end of the 16th century, under the reign of Henry IV of France. It was extended at the end of the 18th century, and again at the end of the 19th century.
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