Saint Gabriel Priory

A Romanesque choir and... three glass chapels.

Founded in 1058 to serve the ambitions of the Count of Creully and extend the prestige of Fécamp Abbey to the very gates of Bayeux, it is a priory where, as evening falls, the croaking of toads clings to the moonlight. By day, a flock of students! High school students from the Horticultural Center hone their green thumbs by cultivating the monks' land. Admittedly, the Benedictines left with the end of the Middle Ages to join their brethren across the Seine.

However, the Archangel... Saint Gabriel has lost none of its soul, nor its timeless charm. Step through the gatehouse: it unfolds, welcoming, the elegance of the 13th century in which it was built. And there you are, in this courtyard planted with fruit trees, at the far end of which the prior's tower stands watch. Enchanted by such bucolic nobility, you shiver...

Erected in the 15th century in the southwest corner of the enclosure, would the keep, once a beacon of justice, impress you? Behold its magnificence. And head east, towards the Levant. Beyond the church, a Romanesque jewel reduced to a chancel in 1749, strolling beneath leafy canopies, you will glimpse these "three chapels"... State-of-the-art greenhouses that serve as nurseries for future gardeners and market gardeners.