Chateau de Caen/ Caen Castle, Normandy

Under William of Normandy, the soon to be William the Conqueror, Caen became the second capital in Normandy. William built Caen Castle, from local stone, around 1060. It was constructed on a hilltop and is the very centre of the city. Today, the castle is also home to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Normandy.

 William the Conqueror and his wife Matilda of Flanders, transformed Caen into a dynastic town, when they each founded an Abbey on opposite sides of the castle, near the town border. These Abbeys were to become their final resting places.