The town of
Bayeux is in
Normandy, quite near the
invasion beaches of WWII, only 11 miles southeast of Omaha Beach and 162 miles northwest
of Paris. Miraculously, considering its proximity to the invasion beaches, Bayeux remained largely intact during the war. Consequently
it contains many old buildings dating from the 15th century and before. It has two attractions worth anyone's visit. The first
is among the most unique artifacts in the world, the so-called
Bayeux Tapestry. The second is the beautiful
Cathedral of
Our Lady. We owe the existence of both to
Bishop Odo, the half-brother of
William the Conquerer who commissioned the former
and got the latter started.
The tapestry is unique in at least two respects. First, the tapestry dates from 1066 AD,
so it is now 941 years old. Not many pieces of cloth have survived in such great shape for that number of years. Second,
it is perhaps the first surviving work that was pretty clearly designed as a public relations document. This tapestry is
quite simply an embroidered story of William the Conqurer's conquest of England's King Harold in the battle of Hastings.
It is embroidered literally by a number of skilled embroidery artists either in England or in France (which country is still
argued over). And the story it tells is also as figuratively embroidered as any puff piece designed today. It is 230 foot
long and you can see all of it displayed in Bayeux or you can inspect it on the
internet.
The Cathedral also dates from the
latter part of the 11th century.
