The architectural and environmental heritage of the city can be discovered via several thematic routes.
With regard to the civil buildings, to see, the House of the People which dates from 1750. It sheltered then a cider press. Under the Revolution, the place hosted meetings of political clubs. It is now a municipal hall.
We can continue through the Barn Dimes, a building of the seventeenth century where we collected the tax. Later, in the nineteenth century, crops were harvested there. The building is now private.
Several castles have been built on the town.
Like the castle of Valleuil, a pretty house of the seventeenth century. In 1925, the army integrated the domain and installed a pyrotechnic complex. Occupied during the second war by the German army, it was in the 1960s again used by the French army (health service) before becoming a facility for the elderly.
Also worthy of note is the Château du Vast, a hunting lodge built in the 17th century that has been transformed into a stud farm.
In another genre, a passage is required at the former "fertilizer plant", a building with a structure type Eiffel in service from 1923 to 1973 where wheat was stored. Acquired by the city, the site has found a new vocation, became a hall of athletics in 2002.
We can then look at the many testimonies inherited from the Société metallurgique de Normandie (SMN).
This is the case of the different neighborhoods where the employees were housed, grouped together in the working-class district of the Plateau, with plots with Anglo-Norman style villas more opulent for the executives, pavilions with gardens for the foremen and more simple for the workers.
Note that the former residence of the director of the SMN built in 1912-1913, neo-Norman style, with a park of 3 hectares, has since been rehabilitated into social housing.
The former library of the factory was transformed into a municipal media library before becoming an associative space. As for the "hotel business" built in 1913 to house a restaurant reserved for factory executives and a hotel for visitors, it now hosts the Normandy Regional Orchestra.
The SMN had also erected just before the second war a place of spectacle, the Renaissance, which served as a theater-theater until the 1970s. An association now manages the room.
As for the large administrative offices of the SMN, they have been transformed into housing.
Another part of the industrial history of the city, at the old hamlet of Clopée, the old quarries where were formerly quarried stones which were used especially for great monuments of the region and even of London. More recently, materials were stored there, and during the Second World War the quarries served as shelters for civilians.
As for Bellemaist Castle, a 17th century hunting lodge, it had a residential function until 1840 before being the seat of a candy factory. The site is now the seat of the conservatory.
At the discretion of the course, do not miss rue Calmette the astonishing house with a hull-shaped roof. A structural technique initiated in the 16th century!
Finally, examples of contemporary architecture, the library of the Quai des Mondes inaugurated in 2015 and the Viaduct dating from 1975 are to be seen.
As far as religious architecture is concerned, the Sainte-Marie-Madeleine-Postel Church dates from 1936. It was the first religious building in the region built of concrete. The presbytery is older (eighteenth).
Notre-Dame des Prés Church, for its part, is the only building in the city that has been classified. Romanesque, dating from the twelfth century, the church is remarkable for the lying visible under an arcature, dug into the thickness of the wall. To see from the inside.
Finally, the chapel Notre-Dame des Travailleurs was built after the second war, voluntarily, by employees of the SMN.
Regarding the natural and environmental heritage, routes can lead to the Biez Park, which crosses a river, consisting of swamps and gardens. It reveals a typical ecosystem of wetlands. Trails and recreational areas lined it.
You can also visit Charlotte Corday Park, on an old dry valley. A place for walking, it is also equipped with recreational facilities and a "health sport" course has been traced.
Finally, walks can be considered along the canal parallel to Orne or along the river itself.
The municipality has designed thematic routes to discover these different heritages (built and natural). Documentation and information on +33 2 31 35 52 00.
For hiking or mountain biking from the town or including part of the territory, contact +33 2 31 27 14 14.
As for sports, the city is also conducive to many activities (in addition to multi-sports and skate park open to all public).
You can enjoy the pool: information +33 2 31 84 75 06. For fans of petanque, join +33 2 31 34 95 32. For a game of tennis, contact +33 2 31 84 20 08. Finally, the nautical base, on the canal, allows the practice of sailing. Information on +33 2 31 84 78 30.
On the cultural level, the multimedia library of Quai du Monde program rich exhibitions (information on +33 2 31 35 66 20) and side show, the Renaissance room offers quality shows throughout the year. Information on +33 2 31 35 65 94.
In March, the Talents d'Aiguilles festival organizes literary encounters, shows and concerts with female authors or artists.
The last weekend of May, at the Renaissance, street art festival.
During the first half of June, urban arts festival.
In mid-July, the Tongs and Espadrilles Days offer games, beach sports, concerts and conclude with a fireworks display.
In November, festival Mondeville on Laughter.
Finally, every Thursday morning, the Norman terroir is featured at the weekly market.
Stages Escalade de Bloc à ISATIX Pour les 6-12 ans
- From 22 to 26 april 2024
- Décathlon Village Les Carandes, ISATIX
- Climbing courses for toddlers are a must during the school vacations. - It's a great opportunity for your child to get together with friends of the same age and discover a fun sport that's suitable for everyone. - During supervised classes, children will learn the basics of bouldering. - Topics covered include safety, falling, first techniques such as foot placement, weight transfers, coordination, etc. - With our walls equipped with courses adapted to all levels, our teachers will be able to adjust to your child's level, accompanying him or her in both discovery and improvement. - Play and the pleasure of climbing remain major teaching tools to facilitate learning. - Courses available by the day or week. - If you take a weekly course, you get one day free ! Slipper rental included. - Go to the link below to register your children : - >>> vacation course registration
Bateaux de Normandie Fête le 80e Anniversaire du Débarquement
- From 2 to 5 june 2024
- Nouveau bassin près de l'Ecole de voile de Caen-Mondeville, Rue de la Chaussée d'Alger
- The boats will be on display on the Quai Lamy in the new basin near the Caen-Mondeville Sailing School. - June 2 to 5,10am to 7pm - - Historical Ships visit at quay/ Visite des bateaux historiques à quai - - Displays of allied air and navy crews on decks/ Équipages marins alliés en uniformes d'époques en situation sur les ponts - - Dimanche 2 juin à 17h/5 pm : Concert swing " Swing" avec standards de l'époque/ Swing band concert singing period standards - - Exposition permanente des navires civils et maquettes de l'association Bateaux de Normandie/ Exhibition of restored civilian ships of Bateaux de Normandie - - Exposition de la Fondation de la France Libre sur l'histoire des marins FNFL /Exhibition of Free French seamen history by the Fondation de la France libre - Bateaux de Normandie, an association under the French law of 1901, was founded in 2018 to help safeguard Normandy's maritime heritage, some of which was about to disappear. - At the crossroads of heritage restoration, tourist activity on the peninsula, professional and social integration, transmission of know-how inherited from the past, involved in the educational and artistic fields, B de N, works for a solidarity and social economy. - Heritage connects us to the long history of time, which we end up forgetting at a time when mobile networks rule our lives, transmitting digital data at the speed of light. We no longer have time to wait for anything. What a joke !!! - Safeguarding our heritage invites us to put down ideas in the same way that carpenters adjusted frames, varangues or planking, so that their boats could defy the elements and the passage of time. It connects us to those sailors, those sailors, those men who had a hard life, and for whom these beautiful constructions enabled them to have a less arduous life. - Safeguarding our heritage is our duty, not for our own immediate personal satisfaction, but to pass on this shared legacy to future generations. At the crossroads of tourism, heritage, culture, youth, professional integration, discovery of new trades and events, our association ? Bateaux de Normandie ? Promotes seafarers, this living heritage, this legacy of the past which is an opportunity for the future. - The magnificent stretch of water where various projects around the sea can take place, the history of the Port of Caen and the canal are tremendous assets for the people of Caen la Mer.
La Société Métallurgique de Normandie, 30 ans Après | RDV Découverte
- On 13 june 2024
- Rdv devant la Renaissance, Rue de l'Hôtellerie
- 30 years after its closure, the SMN plant lives on through its last vestiges : the guard posts, the cooler and the old electrical workshop. The visit will evoke this industrial past through its last visible remains, and highlight the importance of foreign labor in this steel project, unique in the west of France. - The tour is organized by the Mémoire et Patrimoine S.M.N. association. - Practical informationThe number of places is limited, so reservations are essential. Ticket sales open on January 11,2024, online and at tourist information offices in Caen and Ouistreham.
