Caen

Caen--1062

On one point close to Caen, British artillery poured 10,000 shells last week. But through the smoke that enveloped Caen British officers might still be able to pick out vestiges of the 1,000-year-old Romanesque towers and Gothic spires that once thrust up over the city. If so, they were probably the last men who would ever see them. For the architectural treasures of the city, which Henry Adams (Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres) once called a "Romanesque Mecca," seemed doomed. Among them were:

P: The nth Century church of St. Etienne (see cut), where William the Conqueror was buried until the Huguenots scattered his bones. Known as the Abbaye-aux-Hommes (Men's Abbey), St. Etienne is one of Europe's most important examples of Romanesque.*

P: La Trinite, called the Abbaye-aux-Dames (Women's Abbey). Founded in 1062 by William's Queen Mathilda, La Trinite is surmounted by two square towers, instead of spires like St. Etienne's.

P: William the Conqueror's chateau, rises at the edge of Caen. Last fortnight the chateau was reported to be badly battered.

P: The exquisitely spired Gothic church of St. Pierre, built in 1308. St. Pierre's spire stood unscathed through the bombardment of Caen in 1563, during the Wars of Religion.

It seemed unlikely that St. Pierre could survive the 20th Century, whose ruins, like its wars, tend to be total.

* Romanesque originated in Italy, is generally dated 500-1050 A.D., is characterized by fortress-like solidity of construction, round arches, clustered columns with profuse ornament.

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