Avranches, Administrative center in Manche, France.
Avranches is a commune in the Manche department of Normandy, set on a hilltop that rises above the coastal lowlands and marshes. It serves as the main administrative and market town for the surrounding area, with a compact center built around a main square.
The site was inhabited in Roman times as the center of the Abrincates tribe, and it later grew into a bishop's seat during the early Middle Ages. Over the following centuries it developed into one of the main towns of lower Normandy.
The town library holds one of the largest collections of medieval manuscripts from Mont-Saint-Michel in France. Many of these handwritten works were produced by monks over several centuries and can still be seen by visitors today.
The town center is easy to explore on foot, though some streets are steep and cobbled, so sturdy shoes are a good idea. The public gardens near the hilltop edge offer the clearest views toward the bay and Mont-Saint-Michel on a clear day.
A stone marker on the Plateforme, a terrace at the edge of town, indicates the exact spot where King Henry II knelt in public penance in 1172 after the murder of Thomas Becket. It is one of the few places in France where a precise moment of royal remorse is commemorated on the ground.
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