Château Guillaume-le-Conquérant

Located on a rocky outcrop, the castle William the Conqueror overlooks the town of Falaise. It reflects the glorious past of the dukes and Anglo-Norman kings. Very well maintained, it is one of the rare castles from the Middle Ages, which combines military duties with a dungeon and residential functions with a palace on almost 5 acres. Classified as an historic monument in the middle of the nineteenth century and restored in 1986, the castle, birthplace of William the Conqueror, has regained its glory. Considered a very effective defensive fortress, it has had several siege during the Hundred Years War. The castle had a stone wall and ditches in its construction but in the eighteenth century, the enclosure was destroyed and the gaps filled. At the French Revolution, the building had administrative functions and a college was built inside whereas the old chapel was destroyed and the dungeons was abandoned. The castle William the Conqueror offers themed guided tours for different audiences such as allowing children through a journey of playing the role of a knight or a princess of the Middle Ages. The castle also offers workshops and audio-visual animations that describe the history of medieval Normandy.