Abbey of Sainte-TrinitéAbbaye Sainte-Trinité

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.