Everything about Valognes totally explained
Valognes is a town in
Normandy, northwestern
France, in the
Manche département. It lies on the
Merderet river, 20 km south-east of
Cherbourg.
History
The town was built not far from the
Roman town of
Alauna or
Alaunia, from where the town derives its name. It was a fortified stronghold under the
Norman dukes and French monarchs. Also here,
William the Conqueror received the news that the barons of
Cotentin and
Bessin were conspiring to kill him, enabling him to escape to
Falaise.
Edward III of England took Valognes without resistance, spent one night there and then pillaged and burnt the city.
Henry III of England possessed the town, which remained under English rule for thirty years. It would be a kind of resort for English aristocratic visitors until the 1920s. During the
French Wars of Religion, (
1588) Valognes sided with the
Catholic League. The
castle, like that of
Cherbourg, was completely destroyed under
Louis XIV. Of the convent of the
Capuchins and
Cordeliers and the abbey of
Benedictine nuns, which existed in Valognes prior to
1792, only the latter remains, transformed into the hospice of the
Rue des Religieuses.
The 14th-century church of Notre Dame had a dome (dated 1612), being the only example of a
Gothic dome in France. The whole building was destroyed in 1944, during the
Battle of Normandy.
Before the
French Revolution, Valognes was the residence of more than a hundred families of distinguished birth and fortune, and was for a long time afterwards the home,
en villégiature, of many of the old
noblesse. Thus the town was known as the
Versailles of Normandy for its aristocratic mansions and palaces, as well as the quiet, mysterious ambience and exclusivity its streets. This was the Valognes of
Barbey d' Aurevilly.
The 1928 Methuen guide book to Normandy by Cyril Scudamore rather more prosaically describes Valognes as "a clean and well-built town, whose fine old houses bear witness to its former prosperity".
Little remains of Valognes' famous architectural heritage as many of the aristocratic mansions were reduced to rubble during the battle of Normandy. The lovely
hôtel de Beaumont, however, still stands.
Museums
The town has two museums devoted to the two alcoholic drinks for which Normandy is known: one for
cider, the other for the apple brandy called
Calvados.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Valognes'.
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