Seine-Maritime is the department that provides Normandy with its coastline along the English Channel and the Alabaster Coast, those white, sheer cliffs that inspired Monet, Courbet and Maupassant. It is also home to Rouen, the former capital of the Duchy of Normandy and the city of Joan of Arc, whose historical heritage is among the richest in France.
The châteaux of Seine-Maritime reflect the history of ducal Normandy and the great families who ruled there: the Château de Martainville, one of Normandy’s earliest Renaissance châteaux, houses the departmental museum of Norman Traditions and Arts. Miromesnil, a manor house in the Pays de Caux where Guy de Maupassant was born, Ravel, Ételan with its remarkable Gothic woodwork, Filières in the heart of its English-style park… These residences nestle in the valleys of the Seine, the Cailly, the Varenne and the Béthune.
Jumièges Abbey, whose romantic ruins are reflected in the Seine, and the Château de Robert le Diable near Rouen bear witness to the rich history of this region, the cradle of the Duchy of Normandy and the conquest of England.