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Origin and history

The Old Manor House of Orbec is a wooden house built in 1568, as evidenced by an inscription in a cartridge mentioning a tanner named Le Portier. Located in Calvados, 400 metres north of Notre Dame Church, the building combines flint, Vespière stone and half-timbers. Its facades, decorated with tile, flint and stone triangles, also house sculptures of characters. The interior plan, typical of the manor houses in the country of Auge, includes two rooms per level separated by a massif of masonry with chimneys.

Ranked a historic monument since February 21, 1941, the Old Manoir was saved by the Orbec Historical Studies Corporation, then restored thanks to the state, the region, the department and the commune. In 1980, it became a museum dedicated to popular arts and traditions, replacing the former municipal museum installed in the city hall since 1873. Since 2011, he has joined the museum pole of the Lisieux Normandy Agglomeration, alongside the castle-museum of Saint-Germain-de-Livet and the museum of Art and History of Lisieux.

The exact address of the monument, Grande-Rue 97 or Place de la Poissonnerie, reflects its anchoring in the historic centre of Orbec. A communal property, it illustrates Norman civil architecture of the Renaissance, while serving as a place of memory for local history. The materials used – flint, stone and wood – and the sculpted decorations bear witness to the artisanal know-how of the 16th century, while its museum vocation perpetuates its cultural role.

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