THE OLDEST FORTIFIED HOUSE IN NORMANDY

Place of high justice of the Abbots of Fécamp, the Manor of Catel, built under Saint Louis by Richard de Treigos, Xth Abbot of Fécamp is today one of the oldest manors of Normandy. Formerly flanked by four towers and protected from a possible attack by deep moats now found, the imposing fortified house bears in stone the dual temporal and spiritual identity of its sponsor. Axis frame East/West Like all churches in the East and West, the Manoir du Catel has a fortified door that looks like the pediment of a church. Saved and restored, it is visible to visitors, in its preserved valley, as men of the Middle Ages were able to admire it. The Manoir du Catel is home to one of the finest corpuses of graffiti in Normandy. Several thousand cover the walls of the Manor, 300 of which are subject to special protection. Saved from certain destruction by its acquisition in the year 2000, the Manoir du Catel has been the object for nearly twenty years of a restoration campaign carried out under the control of the DRAC of Normandy. Fully classified as a Historic Monument, the Manoir du Catel received the Grand Trophy for the most beautiful restoration in France in 2013.