Pontécoulant estate presents all the distinctive features of nobility: castle, gamekeeper and gardener's detached house, dovecote, landscaping park, vegetable garden, guest houses, farm, woods and grounds. The Le Doulcet de Pontécoulant family arrived there in the 14th century. Their home was rebuilt in the 16th century and enlarged in the 17th. Since the second part of 17th century, the family has lived in Caen and above all in Paris: the castle became a second home. The interior decoration, furniture and daily objects embody the way of life of this 19th century aristocratic family: dining room, lounge, billiard room, rooms in the ground and first floor hold pieces of furniture of diverse origins: French pieces with renown trademarks, exotic and local furniture showing the taste for travels and the Le Doulcet de Pontécoulants' attachment to the region.
References:The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.