Château des Ravalet, Tourlaville, France

Château des Ravalet is an outstanding Renaissance style castle, built between 1562 and 1575. Transformed into a farm during the 17th century, it was restored between 1859 and 1874 by Alexis de Tocqueville’s family, the author of on democracy in America. They created the park, with its ponds and its exotic greenhouse. The Cherbourg city acquired the castle in 1935. Today, the castle and its park are both listed as national heritage sites. The 14 hectares park is made of both an English and a French garden. The French garden is located in front of the magnificent 19th century greenhouse.

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Anthony Asabre (4 years ago)
Lovely day to catch the castle, bright and sunny with no clouds in the sky.

Karim Ouafi (4 years ago)
It's very good ?

Sherif Mohamed (4 years ago)
Very nice and quite place to spend the day in..

Philippe RB (4 years ago)
Beautiful setting. Ideal place for family with children. Lots of nice picnic places and immaculate lawns to laze around. Absolutely fabulous glass house and ponds.

A K (6 years ago)
Absolutely stunning parc and gardens. Should not be missed if you're anywhere nearby. Entry is free, parking is free, no dogs allowed. There's a cafe and toilets on-site. There's a play area for children, lovely water features, lots of exotic plants with some information displayed. Gardens in different styles: English, French, Middle-ages. Places to just sit down, relax, read and contemplate in serenity. Not a lot of visitors on a weekday in July. The castle didn't seem accessible when we went. There was also a collection of interesting pictures from Cherbourg on display with legends in English and French.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Infomastern

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Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.

Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.

There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.

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