Château de Caen

The Château de Caen is a castle in the Norman town of Caen in the Calvados département (Normandy). It has been officially classed as a Monument historique since 1886.

The castle was built c. 1060 by William the Conqueror (William of Normandy), who successfully conquered England in 1066. His son Henry I then built the Saint George's church, a keep (1123) and a large hall for the ducal Court.

On Christmas 1182, a royal court celebration for Christmas in the of Caen Castle brought together Henry II and his sons, Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland, receiving more than a thousand knights.

Caen Castle, along with all of Normandy, was recaptured by the French Crown in 1204. Philip II reinforced the fortifications.

The castle saw several engagements during the Hundred Years' War (1346, 1417, 1450). The keep was pulled down in 1793 during the French Revolution, by order of the National Convention.

The castle, which was used as a barracks during World War II, was bombed in 1944 and seriously damaged.

In 1946, Michel de Boüard, an archeologist from Caen, decided to start excavations in the area of the castle to bring to the light medieval traces. The Musée des Beaux-Arts, which was installed in 1967, opened in 1971.

The castle was constructed on a hillock and is now in the middle of the city. With an area of 5.5 hectares, it is one of the largest castles in Western Europe. It remained an essential feature of Norman strategy and policy.

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