Château de Mayenne, Mayenne, France

Château de Mayenne was originally a wooden castle on a steep rock built in the 8th century AD. It was rebuilt as a stone castle in 920, but burnt down in 1063 during the Breton wars against Wilhelm the Conqueror. The castle was enlarged in the 13th century. In the late Middle Ages Mayenne castle was no longer used as a a residence, but it was a garrison and magazine. English army occupied it twice during the Hundred Years' War (1361-1364 and 1425-1448). After Wars of Religion Château de Mayenne was in royal possession. Towers were demolished in 1665 and the castle was left to decay. In the 19th century it was acquired by the city of Mayenne and restored.

Château de Mayenne is today one the best-preserved early medieval secular buildings in Europe. From the castle, you will have a magnificent panoramic vista over the River Mayenne and the eastern districts of the town. The main courtyard has now been turned into a park. At the end of the 19th century it was endowed with a superb Italian-style theatre, a hub of cultural life in Mayenne. The castle houses a museum where visitors can take an interactive tour to discover these remarkable Carolingian remains and the castle’s history over the last 1,000 years.

A listed museum Mayenne castle’s museum houses the medieval section of Mayenne’s Departmental Archaeological Museum. It also displays outstanding collections of objects found in the course of excavations since 1996: coins, domestic artefacts, religious objects, military furnishings, funerary furnishings and game pieces.Visitors can view an extraordinary collection of game pieces and counters: a board complete with its 52 backgammon counters dating from the 10th to 12th centuries, and dice and chess pieces, all made of bone, stags’ antlers or ivory.

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Abbey of Saint-Georges

Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey. It was founded in about 1113 by Guillaume de Tancarville on the site of an earlier establishment of secular canons and settled by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Evroul. The abbey church made of Caumont stone was erected from 1113 to 1140. The Norman builders aimed to have very well-lit naves and they did this by means of tall, large windows, initially made possible by a wooden ceiling, which prevented uplift, although this was replaced by a Gothic vault in the 13th century. The chapter room was built after the abbey church and dates from the last quarter of the 12th century.

The arrival of the Maurist monks in 1659, after the disasters of the Wars of Religion, helped to get the abbey back on a firmer spiritual, architectural and economic footing. They erected a large monastic building one wing of which fitted tightly around the chapter house (which was otherwise left as it was).

Colin Taylor (17 months ago)
Great exhibition and history in a fab setting, well worth the stop

Jax (20 months ago)
It has been restored over years been visiting and gives a good history of Mayenne well worth a visit

Roy Latty (5 years ago)
Lots of centuries of history to this amazing place.

Michael Blairs (5 years ago)
Great place to visit while in Mayenne France.

Lesley Burton (6 years ago)
Very interesting, well worth a visit

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Abbey of Saint-Georges