Abbey of St Mary

Abbey of St Mary was founded in 1062 by Queen Matilda of Flanders as the women’s counterpart to William the Conqueror’s great abbey nearby, turning their contested marriage into a lasting statement of piety and dynastic authority. The Romanesque church, austere yet harmonious, holds Matilda’s tomb (1083) and was later subtly reshaped by Gothic work. Reused for civic life—today a seat of regional government—and softened by gardens, the former monastery remains woven into Caen’s daily landscape.