Collections of the Musée de Normandie Archaeological excavation sites

Caen (Calvados), castle

Built in circa 1060, by William the Bastard, on the rocky outcrop that dominates the city, the castle continued to develop until it was annexed by Philippe-Auguste in 1204. It was within its walls that Duke William established his palace, consisting of three main elements: a reception hall, private apartments and a chapel dedicated to Saint George. Henri I Beauclerc, his son, also proved to be a greater builder. It is to him that we owe a new reception hall, now called the salle de l'Echiquier [Exchequer' hall] and an imposing square keep, more than twenty metres high. The latter was dismantled from 1793 and only retains some of the courses of the foundations. Few Romanesque elements have survived to the present day, due to the fact of the uninterrupted occupation of the site for ten centuries and the bombings of the summer of 1944. The few lapidary fragments presented here originate from the major archaeological digs that took place during the 60s under Michel de Boüard, or stores constituted by the military. Despite the scarcity of the Romanesque fragments found, these do notwithstanding bear witness to the architectural richness of the location.

 

Caen (Calvados), castle : the archaeological finds

Castle keep graffiti 12th - 13th century

Lapidary fragments 12th century