Square Thomas Becket

At the far end of the old town, in the extension of Place Daniel Huet, the former square has been reorganized into three areas.

To the south of the square, as in the plans drawn up by the former bishop of Avranches, 21 hawthorn trees have been planted around a children?s play area. Faithful to the plan provided by the archaeologist who excavated the site in the 1970s, the architect materialized the cathedral?s nave with a low granite wall topped by an oak crossbeam on which to sit. The funerary slab, commemorating King Henry Plantagenet?s penitence, was relocated to the site of the north portal.

A 6-metre-high triple arcade in corten steel symbolizes the main door of the vanished edifice, and two 33-metre-high facetted masts, the towers. Like watchmen or a signal over the bay, these masts are also, and above all, formidable lightning conductors, which the town did not have. The forecourt in front offers a breathtaking panoramic view of the bay and the Sée valley.