Gisors is of course a magnificent castle mound, built at the very end of the 11th century, and enriched throughout the 12th century by the kings of England and France.
But it's much more than that:
- It's the superb 12th and 14th century cellars that evoke the legend of the Templar treasure that was so much sought after under the mound.
- It is a truly extraordinary church, with radiant Gothic, flamboyant Gothic but also Renaissance styles, which intertwine to form a monument of which Viollet le Duc said it was one of the most representative churches of French Gothic.
- It is the statue of the Golden Virgin, which evokes the medieval battles between Richard the Lionheart and Philip Augustus.
- It is also the Saint Luc chapel, former chapel of the Leprosarium Saint-Lazare, which contains the Last Judgement, the work of Dado, a contemporary Montenegrin painter.
- it is finally the traces of the old tanneries, which remodelled the city by diverting and canalizing the Epte, a small river which crosses it.
Gisors is indeed a nugget to be discovered absolutely!