Cintheaux () is a commune in the

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

department in the

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in northwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Geography

The commune is located between

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

and Falaise and is the home to the Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery. Gaumesnil was originally a separate village, now attached to Cintheaux; it has fewer than 19 residents.

Sights

The main town is situated around the church of Saint-Germain, classified as an official French historic monument. It was built around 1150 by the Marmion family; Robert Marmion offered it in patronage to the Barbery Abbey, subject to the

Bayeux Bayeux (, ; ) is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. It is also known as the fir ...

diocese, in 1181. The main (north) chapel and the cross tower, dating to the 16th century, was destroyed in 1688. The north

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

was added in the 18th century. The church was restored between 1857 and 1902.

History

World War II

Cintheaux was devastated by Allied artillery, which sought to annihilate the

12th SS Panzer Division The SS Division Hitlerjugend or 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" () was a German armoured division of the Waffen-SS during World War II. The majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from members of the Hitler Youth, while the senior ...

in 1944, during

Operation Totalize Operation Totalize (also spelled Operation Totalise in recent British sources) was an offensive launched by Allied troops in the First Canadian Army during the later stages of Operation Overlord, from 8 to 9 August 1944. The intention was to bre ...

Population

References