Villerville, discovery tour in 1 hour
Walking tour
Villerville, a small village with character, has a rich and varied history that spans time. Initially a fisherman's village, the village quickly developed with the arrival of the railroad, thus becoming a landmark for artists. Discover the artistic and tourist highlights of Villerville in an hour-long itinerary.
Distance:
2,5 kmDuration:
01:00Broken in 1928 by a great storm, it was rebuilt in 1930 in the same place where it is still visible today, opposite the Parc des Graves.

Since the death of Lord Labbey the castle has passed into the hands of the Legges, Landals and Nétumières, related to Richard de Villerville. It has therefore remained in the same family through the centuries.
Since 1946 the castle has been renamed La Ferme du Château and belongs to the De la Porte des Vaux family which produces biodynamic organic fruit and vegetables.

There are wild plant species, vestiges of the pleasure gardens of yesteryear, as well as recent plantations and ponds. The "Hôtel des Graves" today houses ducks and water hens. The Park is also home to six goats, known as ditch goats, nicknamed "bramble-eaters" for their ability to eat all kinds of plants. Their objective: clear the entire surface and stop the proliferation of brambles and invasive plants on the site. More recently, five Warré hives, inhabited by black bees from Calvados, have been installed in the park in order to help repopulate them.
Before being a nature reserve, the Parc des Graves was a place of habitation for fifteen houses. In 1982 a major landslide forced residents to evacuate the premises.

Until the years 1830-1840, Villerville was only a small town with half-timbered houses, bordered by a stream called the Douet. Running water did not exist and it was not until 1892, when the Countess of Landal gave up a plot of land to build the market place and a washhouse that the first hygiene measures appeared.
The washhouse has a typical architecture typical of the nineteenth with a frame covered with slate resting on large cast iron feet. The roof goes around the washhouse and is open on the central part, thus allowing to collect rainwater.

The church houses beautiful statues from the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries and a wooden statue of the local Patron Saint Saint-Roch, who, according to legend, treated patients suffering from the plague, a particularly virulent disease at the time, before contracting him. - even this disease, this is why we see him regularly represented with his dog licking his wounds.
It also houses the relics of the local martyr Thomas Jean Montsaint, priest martyr executed on September 2, 1792 at the Abbey of Saint Germain des Prés, for having, during the Terror, refused to take the oath to the Republic (which meant no longer recognizing the authority of the pope). To salute his courage and his faith, he was beatified by Pius XI in 1926. A commemorative plaque sealed in the bell tower of the church recalls his sacrifice and his name was attributed to the first part of "bout du haut".
The church of Villerville also experienced its hour of musical glory. Indeed Gabriel Fauré composed the "Mass of Fishermen of Villerville" which will be performed in the church a first time, without instrument in September 1, then a second time in September 1881.

All three have produced numerous paintings on Villerville with the subject of cliffs, the beach, fishermen, Graves and even local folklore. All three stayed in the heart of the village and Dantan lived on Place du Bouloir.
The Cabaret Normand is the café where Jean-Paul Belmondo (Fouquet) orders a Picon beer after his arrival in Tigreville (Villerville). After having drunk several he becomes drunk and a conversation begins with the regulars of the cafe meet and extol the merits of their village.

In the 20s, Abel Mahu, a villager opened a restaurant within the hotel. Classified two stars in the Michelin Guide, the restaurant is one of the best in the department and all of Normandy is thronging its doors. An emblematic figure of Villerville, and also mayor in 1945, the rue des Bains will take its name from his death0


At the end of the dike is the Petit Manoir, a manor that belonged in the middle of the 1939th century to Alexis Godillot, a manufacturing entrepreneur known for his creations of famous military shoes "godillots". Next to it is the old casino built in 1886 in place of the old wooden casino dating from XNUMX.

Gabriel Fauré, Charles Gounod or the Queen of Naples come to the villa "Beauregard", Georges Feydeau settles in the villa "Jardin Madame", Mistinguett chooses the villa "des Marmousets" while the actress Paule Andral opts for the villa "The Jasmines".
The Hotel Le Bellevue, located higher, also emerged during this period, in 1910, more modern and comfortable than the first hotels on the coast. This hotel-restaurant, still open today, has a clear view of the sea and the coastline.


