Calvados is a department of striking contrasts, ranging from the Normandy bocage to the Caen plain and the coastline of the Côte Fleurie. A land of conquest and reconquest, it has seen the Normans, the kings of England and the Allied armies of 1944 come and go, and each of these eras has left its mark on the castle-studded landscape.
Caen, founded by William the Conqueror who built his castle and two abbeys there, is the historic heart of the department. Caen Castle, one of Normandy’s largest medieval fortresses with its two-hectare enclosure, now houses the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Normandy. To the east, the Côte Fleurie reveals the Belle Époque villas of Deauville and Trouville, as well as the characteristic half-timbered Norman manor houses that dot the Pays d’Auge: Saint-Germain-de-Livet, with its chequered façade of stone and glazed brick, is one of the most photographed in Normandy.
Calvados also boasts numerous châteaux linked to the Hundred Years’ War and the English occupation: Falaise, the birthplace of William the Conqueror; Creully; Fontaine-Henry; Balleroy, designed by Mansart… all jewels that dot the roads of the department.