Caen - La Trinité

In Caen, to the east of Place St-Pierre, at the end of Rue des Chanoines, is the Place de la Reine-Mathilde, in which is the magnificent Romanesque abbey church of La Trinité or of the Abbaye-aux-Dames, built by William the Conqueror's wife Matilda in 1062 to expiate the offence of marrying her cousin. In the impressive interior is the queen's tomb, and beneath this is a crypt. Adjoining the church, on the site of a Benedictine abbey founded by Matilda, is the Hôtel-Dieu, a hospital built in the 18th century.