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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel du Dean de Bayeux is a former mansion located in the centre of Bayeux, on the right bank of the Aure, close to Notre Dame Cathedral. Originally, it was a mansion offered at the end of the 12th century by Bishop Henry II to the Dean Stephen, a donation confirmed in 1189 by Richard the Lion's Heart, then by John without Earth. A private chapel dedicated to Thomas Becket was founded shortly before its canonization. This building, distinct from the neighboring episcopal palace (now town hall), served as a residence for the bishops of Bayeux, then Bayeux and Lisieux after 1855.

Over the centuries, the hotel has undergone several major transformations and events. In the 16th century, it was destroyed by the troops of Admiral de Coligny. In the 17th century Charles de Longauney transferred the chapel from the garden to the courtyard and erected a monumental door decorated with the arms of Bishop Didiot (1856-1866). A total reconstruction took place in 1736-1737 for Louis-François Néel de Christot. After the Revolution, the hotel became the episcopal residence until 1905, when the bishops left it following the law of separation of churches and the state.

In the 20th century, the Calvados department, owner of the premises, rented the hotel to the municipality in 1913 to install the library and museum of Tapestry, transferred in 1983. Between 2002 and 2009, the Baron-Gérard Museum was temporarily housed there during the restoration of its original site. Ranked a historic monument in 1929, the hotel today preserves portraits of bishops and mayors, testimonies of its rich institutional and religious past.

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