Interior view

The former Benedictine abbey of Saint-Étienne was the burial place of William the Conqueror, the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. At the end of the 12th century, the old apse was replaced by a modern choir with an ambulatory. The epitaph inscribed in the building tells us the name of the architect, Guillelmus. While the ground plan refers to that of Saint-Denis, since the chapels added to the ambulatory open into each other, the decorative elements appear to derive chiefly from Canterbury Cathedral. But the architecture of the old church also played an important role, since the structure of its stories (arcade, gallery and clerestory) was preserved in the new choir. The thick Romanesque walls, so typical of Normandy, was also retained.

The photo shows the new choir.

View the ground plan of the choir in the Abbey Church of Saint-Étienne, Caen.