Architecture of Normandy

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See also the Romanesque architecture erected by the Normans at Norman architecture.

Rouen Cathedral, an example of Gothic architecture in Normandy

The architecture of Normandy spans a thousand years.

In Haute-Normandie, the late medieval vernacular domestic architecture is typically half-timbered: some fine examples in Rouen escaped the devastation of the Second World War. The half-timbered farmhouses scattered across the countryside remind one of the historical links with rural English architecture. A particular style of farm enclosure has developed in the Pays de Caux as a result of the harsher landscape of that area.

Vernacular architecture in Basse-Normandie, especially in the Cotentin Peninsula, tends to use granite, the predominant local building material. The Channel Islands also share this influence - Chausey was for many years a source of quarried granite, including for the construction of Mont Saint Michel.

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 1950s and 1960s, such as in Le Havre and Saint-Lô, has left modernist interventions.

The confident ecclesiastical 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 Gothic facade of Rouen Cathedral.

Abbey of Jumièges, near Rouen (ruins)
Abbey of Mont Saint Michel, Normandy (continued in Gothic style)
Abbey of Bec
Two abbeys at Caen founded by William the Conqueror

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.