Top Historic Sights in Angers, France
Explore the historic highlights of Angers
Cháteau de Angers
The Cháteau d'Angers is a castle founded in the 9th century by the Counts of Anjou. It was expanded to its current size in the 13th century. Originally, the castle was built as a fortress at one of the sites inhabited by the Romans because of its strategic defensive location. In the 9th century, the Bishop of Angers gave the Counts of Anjou permission to build a castle in Angers. It became part of the Angevin empire of t ...Angers Cathedral
Angers Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Maurice d'Angers) was constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries on the orders of bishops Normand de Doué and Guillaume de Beaumont after the original building burnt down in 1032. The original Romanesque church was rebuilt with Gothic details in the mid 12th century. The single-aisle plan was vaulted with pointed arches resting on a re-clad interior elevation. The nave cons ...Maison d'Adam
Maison d'Adam, Adam's House, is the oldest house of Angers. The half-timbered building was built around the year 1500. The façade is beautifully decorated with wooden sculptures. Today the house is a home of artisans of Angers.Galerie David d'Angers
The glassed-over ruins of the 13th century abbey church of Touissant are filled with plaster casts of the work of local scupltor Pierre-Jean David (1788-1856). His idealized busts and figures were much in demand as memorials for people such as the Marquis de Bonchamps.Abbey of Saint Aubin
Largely rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries, Saint Aubin’s old monastic buildings are now local government offices. On the left of the courtyard, you will see through the bay windows the cloister’s beautiful Romanesque gallery with its finely worked sculptures.St. Martin's Church
The 9th-century church houses today a superb collection of religious statues dating from the 14th century.Ronceray Abbey
Situated on the northern side of the city, across the River Maine from the main old town area of the city, this delightful abbey is one of the most historic ecclesiastical buildings in the area and a fine example of Anjou architecture. The building has for many centuries served as a place of worship and religious observance. The structure has benefited from a series of overhauls in the last few hundred years, making it a ...Musée Jean Lurcát
The Gothic masterpiece was founded in 1175 by Henry II of England and it functioned as a hospital until 1875. A reconstruction of the dispensary occupies one corner of the Salle des Malades, and a chapel and 12th century cloisters can be reached through a door at the end of the gallery. Today the building houses the works of the 20th century artist Jean Lurcát and many of his vivid tapestries.Cointreau Museum
Cointreau’s history began in 1849 when Adolphe and Edouard-Jean Cointreau founded a distillery in Angers to create spirits using local fruits. This was the starting point of 150 years of success story build step by step by four generations of the Cointreau family. The Carré Cointreau, (the name of the distillery and museum) is open to the public for tours. While Cointreau is dedicated to keep their special r ...Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Roman Walls of Lugo
Roman Walls of Lugo are an exceptional architectural, archaeological and constructive legacy of Roman engineering, dating from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The Walls are built of internal and external stone facings of slate with some granite, with a core filling of a conglomerate of slate slabs and worked stone pieces from Roman buildings, interlocked with lime mortar.
Their total length of 2117 m in the shape of an oblong rectangle occupies an area of 1.68 ha. Their height varies between 8 and 10 m, with a width of 4.2 m, reaching 7 m in some specific points. The walls still contain 85 external towers, 10 gates (five of which are original and five that were opened in modern times), four staircases and two ramps providing access to the walkway along the top of the walls, one of which is internal and the other external. Each tower contained access stairs leading from the intervallum to the wall walk of town wall, of which a total of 21 have been discovered to date.
The defences of Lugo are the most complete and best preserved example of Roman military architecture in the Western Roman Empire.
Despite the renovation work carried out, the walls conserve their original layout and the construction features associated with their defensive purpose, with walls, battlements, towers, fortifications, both modern and original gates and stairways, and a moat.
Since they were built, the walls have defined the layout and growth of the city, which was declared a Historical-Artistic Ensemble in 1973, forming a part of it and becoming an emblematic structure that can be freely accessed to walk along. The local inhabitants and visitors alike have used them as an area for enjoyment and as a part of urban life for centuries.
The fortifications were added to UNESCO"s World Heritage List in late 2000 and are a popular tourist attraction.