Model of the City of Caen - Caen, France - 3D Map Models of Our World and Beyond on Waymarking.com

The tourist office is oposite the Église Saint Pierre.
Even though the model is inside the tourist office it is visible from outside through the window.
The model features all the important buildings of the city like the many churches and the castle.

City of Caen
Caen is a city in France, the capital of the former Basse-Normandie region and of the prefecture of the French Calvados, and is located 15 kilometers inland from the Channel. The river Orne bisects the city. Caen had a population of 106,230[1] on 1 January 2019 and the agglomeration of Caen has 385,482 inhabitants. Caen is also nicknamed the city of a hundred bells.

History
antiquity
After Roman rule there was already a settlement named Gadomus. In the Gallo-Roman period there was a village center around the current Abbaye aux Hommes (men's abbey) with a church dedicated to Saint-Martin.

Middle Ages
The area around Gadomus was ravaged several times by Viking raids in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. It was only under William the Bastard, later William the Conqueror, that peace returned. The duke had a citadel built on the hills just outside the settlement, overlooking the village and the river Orne. In addition, around 1060 he also founded the Abbaye aux Hommes and its abbey church dedicated to Saint Stephen (French: Saint-Étienne). At the same time, his consort Mathilde commissioned the construction of an Abbaye aux Dames with the abbey church dedicated to the Trinity (French: Trinité). In addition, he also ordered the construction of stone ramparts. In 1083 Mathilde of Flanders was buried in the Abbaye aux Dames. Four years later, William the Conqueror's body was interred in the church of the abbaye aux Hommes. In 1204 the Duchy of Normandy was added to the French crown under Philip II Augustus.


The Siege of Caen in 1346.
Nearly 600 years before the ravages of World War II, the city was similarly destroyed at the hands of Edward III of England in 1346. The city was the richest in the region at the time and King Edward wanted to plunder it with his army. On July 26, 1346, the city was besieged and looted after the siege of Caen that killed 3000 civilians and destroyed much of the commercial district. Only the castle of Caen withstood the siege, despite attempts to besiege it as well. After a few days, the English left for the east, where they fought the Battle of Crécy.

WWII
During the Battle of Normandy during the Second World War, Caen was liberated by the British I Corps in early July 1944, a month after the Normandy landings. British and Canadian troops wanted to take the city earlier, on D-Day, but were held up until July 9. Then the city was heavily bombed during Operation Charnwood, which destroyed much of the city, but allowed the Allies to take the western quarters. During the battle, many civilians fled in the Abbaye aux Hommes, built by William the Conqueror 800 years before.

Tourism and places of interest
Castle.
Caen Castle is an impressive citadel centered on the original keep built by William the Conqueror in 1060. Over the centuries, this castle grew into a real fortress by adding various ramparts and buildings. The Hundred Years War, the French Revolution and the Second World War have left it almost intact. Within the walls of this five-hectare stronghold are the Musée des Beaux-Arts, the Salle d'Échiquier and the Musée de Normandie. You can also see the remains of the Romanesque church of Saint-Georges and the former ducal residences. From this fortification you have a beautiful panoramic view of the city.

La Salle d'Echiquier.
What makes this building so exceptional is that it is one of the rare examples of non-religious Romanesque architecture from the Anglo-Norman period. This 12th century stone building with one large hall was the seat of the court of the dukes of Normandy.

Maison des Quatrans.
The only survivor of the bombings, this half-timbered house from the early 14th century stands at the foot of the citadel of Caen. The wooden facade in red and white ground colors is classified as a historic monument.

Churches
Eglise du Vieux Saint-Sauveur.
The transepts and tower of this church are still in the original Romanesque style and date from the 11th century. After the devastating bombings of the Second World War, this church has also been completely restored. Around the choir, which was designed in the Renaissance style, there are now paving stones in the original ground colour. The nave is built in the Gothic Flamboyant style.

Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Froide-Rue.
The original Romanesque church from the 7th century has left no visible traces. The church is better known to the inhabitants of Caen as the Saint-Sauveur. A new Gothic style church was built on the same site between the 14th and 16th centuries. On the side of Rue Froide there is a beautiful portal, in the 15th century Gothic Flamboyant style. The two naves in the church itself seem to merge without an actual separation. They both show their wooden barrel vaults in the shape of upturned boats. In the church there is also a peculiar spiral staircase that leads nowhere.

glise Saint-Jean.
This church was built in the Flamboyant Gothic style of the 15th century. The church was extensively modified in the second half of the 15th century. The nave has carved Renaissance-style walls and a richly decorated lantern tower. In the baptistery hangs a rotten and weathered statue of Christ that was rescued from the rubble of the chapel after the bombing. For the inhabitants of Caen, the statue is a symbol of their suffering and the ravages of the Second World War. The Saint-Jean is also popularly known as the "leaning church". Inside the ecclesiastical building one can see that the geometric proportions are not correct everywhere. This situation has not improved after the heavy bombing. Even after the replacement of the foundation, which consisted of wooden piles with a concrete structure, the church appears to be even more unstable.

Eglise Saint-Julien.
Archaeological research dates the origin of this church to sometime in the 8th century on the site of a Roman settlement in the 6th century. The first mention of this parish and its church can be found in a charter from 1150. The church itself was rebuilt several times, including after destruction during the Hundred Years War. The church suffered irreparable damage after a devastating bombing raid on 7 July 1944. A completely new church was built on the same site in 1963. The modernist building is laid out in an elliptical shape. On the outside of the walls, numerous small openings form a huge stained glass window inside. In 2007 the church was recognized as a Historic Monument.

Eglise Notre-Dame-de-la-Gloriette.
This former Jesuit church was built between 1681 and 1689. After the French Revolution (1792), the church first served as an abattoir for a while and until 1810 housed part of the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Caen. After the dissolution of the Abbaye aux Dames, the white marble main altar of the former abbey was moved to the church. The interior decoration is in Baroque style.

Eglise Saint-Nicolas.
Over time, this Romanesque church has undergone little or no changes. At the end of the 11th century, this parish church was built by the monks of Saint-Étienne in the Bourg-l'Abbé suburb of Caen. The old cemetery around the church has been preserved.

Eglise Saint-Pierre.
The construction of this church started in the 13th century and evolved from High Gothic through the Gothic-flamboyant style of the 14th century to the completion of the church in the 16th century in the Renaissance style. The bell tower from 1308 of about 80 m is one of the panoramic viewpoints of the city. Its spire was also destroyed during the Second World War, but has since been fully restored. The nave and aisles are built in Gothic style. Close to the altar is a life-size statue of Saint Peter, the patron saint of the church. The chapels around the choir have richly decorated ornaments in the Renaissance style. The richly decorated renaissance style can also be admired on the eastern choir enclosure on the outside of the church.

Eglise Saint-Etienne-Le-Vieux.
This originally Romanesque church was built in the first half of the 11th century. She got the nickname "the old one" because a Saint-Étienne arose a little later near the Abbaye aux Hommes. The church was partly destroyed during sieges by the English in 1346 and 1417 (Hundred Years War). The building was renewed in the Gothic style and completed in the 16th century. After the French Revolution, the church served as stables for horses. In 1817 she was saved from total scrapping. It was again flattened by the bombings of the Second World War. Today parts of the church remain and it is partly in ruins. The transept, the bell tower and the aisle on the northern side are still standing.

Eglise Saint-Michel de Vaucelles
Under William the Conqueror, there was already a shrine dedicated to Saint-Michel in the 11th century on a knoll near where the station is now. At the beginning of the 12th century a church was built, of which only the tower is still in the Romanesque style. The pointed roof was added in the 14th century. The choir and part of the nave date from the 15th century and are built in the Gothic-flamboyant style. The modern stained glass windows were added after the Second World War.

Address and Hours Available to the Public: 12 Pl. Saint-Pierre, 14000 Caen, Frankrijk Opening hours: Sunday 10:00–13:00, 14:00–17:00 Monday 09:00-19:00 Tuesday 09:00-19:00 Wednesday 09:00-19:00 Thursday 09:00-19:00 Friday 09:00-19:00 Saturday 09:00-19:00 Admission Fee (if any): yes Interactive Features: Not Listed Website for more information: Not listed

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