The Château de Fléville is a castle located in the commune of Fléville-devant-Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle. The current structure was completed in 1533 in the French Renaissance architecture style, but includes a donjon built in 1320. Fléville was one of the few châteaux in Lorraine spared by Cardinal Richelieu (acting on the orders of Louis XIII) after the Thirty Years' War.
Fléville's architecture is mostly typical of the early French Renaissance architecture – however, it includes an unusual balcony running along the entire façade that reflects the influence of Italian architecture of the time on Lorraine. It was built around the ruins of an earlier feudal castle, including a moat that has long since been drained. The entire Château, including the furnished interior, is open to the public and includes several rooms dedicated to the history of Lorraine.
References:La Hougue Bie is a Neolithic ritual site which was in use around 3500 BC. Hougue is a Jèrriais/Norman language word meaning a \'mound\' and comes from the Old Norse word haugr. The site consists of 18.6m long passage chamber covered by a 12.2m high mound. The site was first excavated in 1925 by the Société Jersiaise. Fragments of twenty vase supports were found along with the scattered remains of at least eight individuals. Gravegoods, mostly pottery, were also present. At some time in the past, the site had evidently been entered and ransacked.
In Western Europe, it is one of the largest and best preserved passage graves and the most impressive and best preserved monument of Armorican Passage Grave group. Although they are termed \'passage graves\', they were ceremonial sites, whose function was more similar to churches or cathedrals, where burials were incidental.