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Attre Castle (Château d'Attre) is a former castle, now a country house in Brugelette. The present château at Attre was built in the middle of the 18th century by Count François Philippe Franeau d’Hyon van Gomegnies, on the foundations of a medieval castle that had been in the hands of the family since 1520. The structural work was finished in 1752, and Count François died shortly after in 1755. His son François Ferdinand Franeau d’Hyon continued the work of his father and saw to it that the interior decorations were finished. It took more than 30 years before the interior was completely decorated. The present building is in a Neo-Classical style and the interiors are French, mainly Louis Quinze.
In addition to the landscaped garden and the forest park, it is home to several melancholic 'follies', such as the Belvédère tower ruins, the 15th century dovecote, the hermitage, the Vignou tower, the Swiss chalet, the bath pavilion, 'le Rocher', an artificial cave.
References:The Abbey of Saint-Etienne, also known as Abbaye aux Hommes ('Men"s Abbey'), is a former monastery dedicated to Saint Stephen (Saint Étienne). It is considered, along with the neighbouring Abbaye aux Dames ('Ladies" Abbey'), to be one of the most notable Romanesque buildings in Normandy. Like all the major abbeys in Normandy, it was Benedictine.
Lanfranc, before being an Archbishop of Canterbury, was abbot of Saint-Etienne. Built in Caen stone during the 11th century, the two semi-completed churches stood for many decades in competition. An important feature added to both churches in about 1120 was the ribbed vault, used for the first time in France. The two abbey churches are considered forerunners of the Gothic architecture. The original Romanesque apse was replaced in 1166 by an early Gothic chevet, complete with rosette windows and flying buttresses. Nine towers and spires were added in the 13th century. The interior vaulting shows a similar progression, beginning with early sexpartite vaulting (using circular ribs) in the nave and progressing to quadipartite vaults (using pointed ribs) in the sanctuary.
The two monasteries were finally donated by William the Conqueror and his wife, Matilda of Flanders, as penalty for their marriage against the Pope"s ruling. William was buried here; Matilda was buried in the Abbaye aux Dames. Unfortunately William"s original tombstone of black marble, the same kind as Matilda"s in the Abbaye aux Dames, was destroyed by the Calvinist iconoclasts in the 16th century and his bones scattered.
As a consequence of the Wars of Religion, the high lantern tower in the middle of the church collapsed and was never rebuilt. The Benedictine abbey was suppressed during the French Revolution and the abbey church became a parish church. From 1804 to 1961, the abbey buildings accommodated a prestigious high school, the Lycée Malherbe. During the Normandy Landings in 1944, inhabitants of Caen found refuge in the church; on the rooftop there was a red cross, made with blood on a sheet, to show that it was a hospital (to avoid bombings).