Orne is Normandy’s most inland department, a vast expanse of wooded countryside, forests and hills that rises to the heights of the Perche and the Alpes Mancelles. A land of livestock farming renowned for its stud farms and thoroughbred horses, Orne boasts a heritage of castles closely linked to this equestrian culture and the landed aristocracy that drove it.
The Haras du Pin, founded by Colbert under Louis XIV and nicknamed the ‘Versailles of the horse’, is one of the department’s most distinctive monuments: its classical château, stables and bridle paths form an architectural ensemble of rare elegance. The Château de Carrouges, a medieval fortress with a moat still filled with water and surrounded by its park, belongs to the Centre des monuments nationaux. Sées, Alençon and its lace, the châteaux of Médavy, Champ-de-Bataille and Canon, and its garden ornaments… the Orne invites you to discover a heritage that is understated and refined.
The Perche region of the Orne, with its manor houses featuring characteristic turrets and its deep bocage landscapes, is one of the most charming regions of Normandy for lovers of authentic rural architecture.