Top 5 Castles around Sainte-Mère-Église

Don't hesitate to take the small path towards the church. Beautiful view of the castle and memorial to the Waco glider that fell on one of its outbuildings.

It dates from the 19th century and was built by Pierre-Etienne-Joseph LAFOSSE who, following a dream, decided to create this picturesque garden with canals, a lake with three small islands in the center. Part of the garden was transformed into a valley filled with rocks. A belvedere completes the ensemble, offering a panoramic view of the gardens. In 1897, Bel Esnault was sold and half of the park transformed into pastures. To date, only part of the garden has retained all its structures and remains surprisingly picturesque and rare in Lower Normandy. It was the German command post during D-Day and the first castle liberated after the landing at Utah Beach. @OT Cotentin Bay

During the religious wars which desolated the country in the course of the 16th century, the lords of Houesville and Cosqueville were massacred by the Protestants. In 1599, we find noble in Houesville, Charles Varroc, sieur de Houesville. In the course of the 17th century, one of the members of the Varroc family was Lord of Houesville. This family bore gules six roses argent. In the middle of the 18th century, Pierre Claude de Varroc, knight, lord of Houesville, sold to Thomas Alexandre "a tenement called the Vivier farm, consisting of manable house, cellar, barn, chartery, stable, bakery, courtyard, two gardens and a circuit of land at the end of the larger of the two gardens". When René Nicolas Frigoult married Jacqueline Le Perchois in 1763, the Vivier estate passed into the Frigoult de Liesville family. The central body of the house, of regular plan with a square floor, with two recessed wings, was built in the 18th century; alterations and addition of pavilions carried out in the 19th century. http://www.chateau-fort-manoir-chateau.eu/chateaux-manche-chateau-a-houesville-chateau-du-vivier.html

Fort Ravenoville (19th century), built on an old square masonry redoubt dating from 1689. The enclosure as well as the old interior guardhouse have been profoundly modified. The remains of the vast "Widerstandsnest 14" next door date from the Nazi-German Atlantic Wall.

Historic 18th century manor, still an active upscale residence of a horse breeding family, surrounded by horse paddocks and even remnants of a water-filled decorative moat. The Château de Houesville, known as the “Château duVivier”, is a property built by the family of the owner's mother, Jean-Yves Lécuyer, Madame Lécuyer née Frigoult de Liesville. The Haras du Vivier is a horse breeding center created by Jean-Yves, one of the largest trotting farms in France. The estate covers more than 500 hectares, 400 of which are owned around the castle, with around ten employees, around 150 trotters and hundreds of cattle and sheep. The stud farm itself produces the hay, oats, corn and barley that it needs for feeding its animals. https://www.wikimanche.fr/Haras_du_Vivier

Bel Esnault castle, also called Bellenau castle, is a 17th century residence. The garden is listed as a Historic Monument for its exceptional and picturesque character. The garden retains the spirit of the 19th century, with magnificent specimens of rare trees and landscaped with water gardens, islands and caves.

Palatial views through the grand windows a kilometer all the way down to the beach, now accessible as a hotel and restaurant.