Palais Bénédictine, Palace, distillery and museum in Fécamp, France
Palais Bénédictine is a distillery and museum in Fécamp, built in pale stone with red brick accents and a tall central spire topped with green copper. Architect Camille Albert designed it in a mix of Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance styles for Alexandre-Prosper Le Grand, who made his fortune from the Bénédictine liqueur. Inside are the working distillery, cellars, and a museum of religious art.
Alexandre-Prosper Le Grand, a spirits merchant enriched by Bénédictine liqueur, commissioned the palace from architect Camille Albert; construction began in 1882 and it was inaugurated in 1888. A fire destroyed it on 12 January 1892, and it was rebuilt in its present Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance form. Ferdinand Marrou made the ironwork and roof finials.
The palace museum holds medieval and Renaissance works, many from the former abbey of Fécamp: champlevé enamels, carved ivories, reliquaries, ironwork and a library of manuscripts and incunabula. The Salle des Abbés centres on a stained-glass window showing Francis I received by the monks in 1534. A room displays some 600 counterfeits of the liqueur.
The building is open daily and offers guided tours in different languages along with tastings. Most areas are accessible by elevator, and parking is available nearby to make your visit convenient.
The museum holds around 600 counterfeit bottles of Bénédictine, one of the most copied liqueurs in the world. The exact recipe stays secret, but the 27 plants and spices that go into it are listed on a display in the spice room.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,786 contributors worldwide.
