Church of Saint-Pierre, Caen

Known as Saint-Pierre of Darnetal, Saint-Pierre-sous-Caen, Saint-Pierre-du-Châtel, Saint-Pierre-en-Rive, this church, often mistakenly called by the tourists "the cathedral", as it was the largest religious building of Bourg-le-Roi; special care was therefore given to its development.

The spire of the church was destroyed on 9 July 1944 by a shell fired at German forces from the Royal Navy battleship HMS Rodney, and has since been rebuilt.

[3] The interior choir and the exterior apse display an architecture that embodies the transition from Gothic to Renaissance.

It ceased to be a church building on November 20, 1793,[1] and became a Temple of Reason, and was from 1793 to 1795 used as a venue for the 'Culte de l'Être supreme', after which it was used for Catholic worship from June 4, 1795, to 1933.

Various artists and engravers recorded this relation of the church to the canal; for instance, the Scottish painter David Roberts made several very similar views, one of which (dated to c. 1830) is in Musée des Beaux-Arts in the Château de Caen (Caen Castle).