Château des Ravalet is an outstanding Renaissance style castle, built between 1562 and 1575. Transformed into a farm during the 17th century, it was restored between 1859 and 1874 by Alexis de Tocqueville’s family, the author of on democracy in America. They created the park, with its ponds and its exotic greenhouse. The Cherbourg city acquired the castle in 1935. Today, the castle and its park are both listed as national heritage sites. The 14 hectares park is made of both an English and a French garden. The French garden is located in front of the magnificent 19th century greenhouse.
References:The Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls was part of the federal sanctuary of the three Gauls dedicated to the cult of Rome and Augustus celebrated by the 60 Gallic tribes when they gathered at Lugdunum (Lyon). The amphitheatre was built at the foot of the La Croix-Rousse hill at what was then the confluence of the Rhône and Saône.
Excavations have revealed a basement of three elliptical walls linked by cross-walls and a channel surrounding the oval central arena. The arena was slightly sloped, with the building"s south part supported by a now-vanished vault. The arena"s dimensions are 67,6m by 42m. This phase of the amphitheatre housed games which accompanied the imperial cult, with its low capacity (1,800 seats) being enough for delegations from the 60 Gallic tribes.
The amphitheatre was expanded at the start of the 2nd century. Two galleries were added around the old amphitheatre, raising its width from 25 metres to 105 metres and its capacity to about 20,000 seats. In so doing it made it a building open to the whole population of Lugdunum and its environs.