Caen Abbeys

William of Normandy and Matilda of Flanders married around 1050 despite papal objection on grounds of consanguinity, and part of the eventual settlement was that each would found an abbey at Caen: the Abbaye aux Hommes with the church of Saint-Etienne, and the Abbaye aux Dames with La Trinite. Both are major Romanesque buildings in pale Caen stone, and Saint-Etienne's west front with its two towers set a pattern followed widely afterwards. William was buried at Saint-Etienne in 1087, in a funeral where his swollen body reportedly burst as it was forced into the sarcophagus; the grave was later violated and only a thigh bone remains. Matilda lies at La Trinite.

What you actually see

• Saint-Etienne - the Abbaye aux Hommes church with its twin-towered front.
• La Trinite - the Abbaye aux Dames church and Matilda's tomb.
• The monastic buildings - eighteenth-century conventual ranges, now civic offices.
• William's grave - the much-disturbed burial place at Saint-Etienne.

When to go

Year-round; the churches are free and open daily, while the conventual buildings are seen on guided tours at set times. Caen's 1944 damage spared both abbeys, which sheltered civilians.

Honest expectations

The monastic buildings now house the town hall and are only seen on tours. Only a fragment of William's remains survives. Caen's centre was largely destroyed in 1944 and rebuilt.

Nearby

The Memorial de Caen lies north; Bayeux is northwest.