Lyons-la-Forêt

A great beech forest gave this Norman village both its name and its fortunes: Norman dukes stayed here, French kings came for the hunting, and Henry I of England built a castle and died here in 1135. Today the 17th-century market hall anchors the square, and hundreds of kilometres of trails lead out into the Forêt de Lyons.

Highlights

• The 17th-century market hall on Place Isaac Benserade
• The castle mound, all that remains of the English kings' fortified residence
• The Forêt de Lyons, a vast Norman beech wood with 300 km of trails (FR)
• The story of Henry I, said to have died from a surfeit of lampreys

Text adapted from Wikipedia (Lyons-la-Forêt (FR), Lyons-la-Forêt (EN), Lyons-la-Forêt (IT)), Wikivoyage (Lyons-la-Forêt). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.