Pierre de Caen
Pierre de Caen ( Stone of Caen ) is the name of the light ocher and oolithic limestone quarried in the vicinity of Caen . In the past, the names Pierre d'Allemagne and Pierre de la Maladrerie were also used.
Geology and properties
The Caen stone comes from deposits from the Jurassic period ( Bathonium ). It is an oolithic limestone with a very fine grain . Polishing is not possible due to its high porosity (24 to 31% by volume).
It has good strength values and is easy to work with. The saying “Caennais limestone can be carved like wood and is hard as granite” is indicative of this .
use
The stone has shaped the construction method in the city of Caen and in Normandy. Most of the city's historical buildings (castle, churches) are made of this material, which is still used today. His historically preferred applications were in sculptures and ornamental architectural parts.
It was transported across the English Channel during the reign of William the Conqueror and used to build important buildings in England. There is evidence of applications at Westminster Abbey , the London House of Parliament , Canterbury Cathedral , and Windsor Castle near Windsor . Deliveries were made for Cologne Cathedral and were used there. In the USA, the Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York was built with this stone.
The underground quarries, which in the past produced large raw blocks, are now closed. Quarrying sites are verifiable for the municipalities of Caen, Venoix , Bretteville-sur-Odon and Fleury-sur-Orne (then Allemagne ). The name of the village of Allemagne was replaced by the name Fleury-sur-Orne in 1917 , because Fleury-devant-Douaumont (near Verdun) was one of the nine "villages destroyed" in the First World War that was totally destroyed. “Allemagne” actually means “Germany”, but that wasn't the case back then. The place name Allemagne referred to Alemannic soldiers who had settled as soldiers of the Roman army at the time of the late Roman Empire .
literature
- Essai de nomenclature des carrières françaises de roches de construction et de décoration . Givors (édition Le Mausolée) 1976, pp. 30-31
Web links
- Explanations of stone mining (French)
- List of réalisations en pierre de Caen (French)