Rising above the sea

You must climb the hill, crossing over the shadowy terraces with their yew and boxwood hedges, to reach Graville Abbey and appreciate its size, while feeling the wind coming off the channel and enjoying an unrivalled view over the city of Le Havre.

A hermitage in the 6th century, the Graville site became a pilgrimage destination in the 9th century, when it housed the relics of Saint Honorine. Guillaume Malet de Graville, a companion of William the Conqueror, gave the site all of its grandeur after returning victoriously from the Battle of Hastings.
The church that he built has the characteristics of Norman Romanesque architecture, with the exception of the Gothic choir.
The conventual buildings (12th to 18th centuries), now a national museum, house one of the finest collections of mediaeval statuary in Normandy. Stone pieces, paintings, engravings and a variety of other ornaments complete the collection.
The abbey is also home to an astounding collection of more than 150 scale-model houses, dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In the gardens, a monumental statue of the Madonna and Child, known as the “Black Madonna”, is a popular site for prayer. Pieces of the original statue, offered by the Christian Mothers’ Association in 1870, are on display in the museum.