City of Art and History Valognes, nicknamed the Versailles of Normandy, has numerous mansions. The most well-known is Beaumont mansion, a historical monument dating from the 18th century, is open to the public and the visit includes rooms containing antique furniture, a monumental double spiral staircase and formal gardens.
Nearby, in the Grand Quartier house, a regional cider museum presents a collection of utensils used in cider-making.
The brandy and old trades museum in Thieuville mansion explains how Calvados is made through an exhibition of machines and tools, with a section dedicated to traditional costumes and trades.
The town's built heritage can be explored on a walk through the streets of Valognes, especially the Rue de Poterie and Rue des Religieuses.
City of Art and History of the Channel, Normandy, Valognes takes place in the Cotentin peninsula, about twenty kilometers from Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. Located in the Merderet valley, not far from Montebourg or Sainte-Mère-Eglise, it is a nice stopping point to appreciate the charms of Normandy.
The one that is now called the Little Norman Versailles, is born in the first century of our era. It is then a Gallic city belonging to the tribe of Unelles. The old Alauna still reveals the remains of huge baths and it is still possible to admire the location of a theater of 3000 places dating from that time. Apanage of the Dukes of Normandy in the 10th century, it develops little by little before joining the kingdom of France at the beginning of the 13th century. From the middle of the fifteenth century, the city experienced a considerable boom, especially through the craft of leather and cloth. Heavily damaged by the bombings of the Second World War, Valognes was reborn from its ashes, revealing still today an impressive architectural heritage.
Remains of the ancient Gallo-Roman city of Alauna, the baths were raised here in the first century. The ruins still present testify to the importance of Valognes in ancient times. Its stones have been partly reused by the inhabitants.
Cited for the first time in the eleventh century, the Saint-Malo church of Valognes today dates back to the fifteenth century. Slender, it reveals important buttresses, and its interior surprises by its staggering arches and large arcades that support the circulation gallery. Partly restored after the bombings of 1944, it now presents some resolutely modern elements.
The Church of Our Lady of Alleaume owes its name to the ancient ancient city of Alauna. Primitive Romanesque style, it has been significantly overhauled over the centuries, and today has side chapels of the sixteenth century and a facade of the eighteenth. Inside, you can admire a semicircular altarpiece adorned with polychrome terracotta statues. In the cemetery, a century-old yew stands proudly among the burials.
The regional Cider Museum takes place in the house of the Grand-Quartier, a former craft building of the late Middle Ages. Its spiral staircase tower and mullioned windows testify to the prosperity of Valognes over the centuries. It now houses the largest collection of French cider-oriented, Norman specialty par excellence.
Walking through the city, you can enjoy beautiful old buildings, as well as a large number of mansions. Rue du Grand-Moulin in particular offers houses of craftsmen from the 15th to the 17th century. Open to the public, the Beaumont hotel dates back to the second half of the 18th century. In its interior, it hosts an impressive staircase with two parallel flights joining the second landing in a single climb. Do not miss to admire the exteriors of the hotels of Grandval-Caligny, which notably welcomed Barbey-d'Aurevilly, and Thieuville.
The remains of the former Hotel Dieu of the fifteenth century now house a cultural institution, while the former Benedictine Royal Abbey is occupied by the public hospital.
Formerly one of the largest in the Normandy region, the former seminary of the mid-seventeenth century is occupied since the late 1960s by the high school Henri Cornat. You can also enjoy the current media library installed in the old halls. It still retains a well-known old fund. A room in the basement presents a lapidary collection, including the altar stone metric inscription of the former Merovingian Abbey Ham. It is the oldest literary document in Normandy, it dates from the seventh century.
