Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Saint-Pierre- en Auge

The market hall is an example of Norman medieval architecture and dates back to the 11th century. It was originally used by the Benedictine monks of the local abbey to sell their goods. The market hall is 70 meters long and 20 meters wide and is among the largest halls in France. The structure was listed as a historical monument the 6 March 1889. The hall was completely destroyed by fire during the German withdrawal from the area in the summer of 1944 and was restored and inaugurated in 1949 in accordance with medieval construction techniques. Nowadays the market hall still retains its commercial vocation by hosting the authentic Monday morning market and several annual fairs.

The Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives (Épinay was the original name of the town) was founded in the 11th century; the earliest records of the monastery date back to 1011, when Countess Lesceline - great-aunt of William the Conqueror - had her château transformed into a monastery to house a community of nuns. The nuns were soon replaced by Benedictine monks from Jumieges. Consecrated in 1067, the church was destroyed in a fire almost fourty years later. The construction of a new church would begin two years later and took more than a hundred years to complete. The monument retains very few elements from its earliest days, since it was entirely rebuilt during the Gothic period, between the 13th and 15th centuries. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the abbey church was restored and rebuilt. At the end of the French Revolution, the monastery was sold as national property and the abbey church was transformed into a parish church of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives. Remarkably, the town and the abbey were spared by the bombings at the end of World War II. The tall towers of the abbey church still dominate the town.