The best running trails around Belval

An exceptional and unmissable monument: Coutances Cathedral An emblematic monument of the historic capital of the Cotentin region, Coutances Cathedral is, alongside Mont Saint-Michel, the most famous jewel of Norman Gothic architecture. A must-see when visiting the Cotentin region, it will allow you to discover an exceptional building of unparalleled beauty.

Coutances Cathedral, with its towers and stone spires, towers majestically above the city, was rebuilt in the 13th century. Nevertheless, the Romanesque structure of the nave and the towers of the facade were retained and form the basic framework of the present cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture in Normandy. The building owes its fame to its outstanding elegance, the boldness of its lantern tower (the most beautiful in Normandy), and its magnificent medieval stained-glass windows (the largest surviving 13th-century stained-glass windows in Normandy).

Created between 1852 and 1855, the Coutances Botanical Garden is one of the oldest in Normandy. The harmonious combination of French symmetrical borders, English-style tree groups, and Italianate terraces invites you to stroll, relax, and dream.

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The botanical garden is beautifully landscaped and impresses with its enormous variety of flowers. In the summer, concerts are held in the park twice a day. The garden is accessible free of charge and is a little oasis!

Picturesque remains of a Gothic aqueduct from the 13th century. Destroyed three centuries later by the Huguenots and then restored, it was completely abandoned from the 17th century.

The musée Quesnel-Morinière on the right is housed in a former mansion on an estate bequeathed to the city in 1852. According to the provisions of the will, the city was to make it a "public park where medicinal plants for the use of the poor were to be grown". Remarkably, the city council asked a retired naval officer, Adel Sébastien Minel, to redesign the site, which was quite hilly at the time, and, it must be said, the inexperienced landscape gardener successfully completed the assignment. It is wonderful to walk through the terraced garden with conifers and the labyrinth of spirally planted hornbeams. To the left of the park is another 18th century cider apple press.

Bishop Geoffroy de Montbray, one of the great monk-knights Duke William gathered around him before he left for England, completed the first nave of the cathedral in 1056. He then built with poison from the sons of Tancred de Hauteville who had just built their Mediterranean adventure had begun, the choir, the transept, the central tower and the facade flanked by two octagonal towers. Due to its harmonious proportions and clean lines, the cathedral is known as "the jewel of Gothic architecture in Normandy. Visitors entering Courtances from the south have the best view of the cathedral, which miraculously survived the bombings. The harmonious proportions and simplicity of the Norman style are nothing short of impressive.