Don't miss the small path that, from the Rue du Faubourg de la Barre, allows you to walk up to the esplanade outside the Dieppe Castle-Museum to blow your mind…
The panoramic view over the town and the beach is just impressive and helps understand the extent to which the sea imparts a special maritime atmosphere to this pretty seaside town. In front of you, the endless sea and its ever-changing wide palette of blue and green colours is a refreshing and breathtaking spectacle.
Turn your head a little and you will see a nice mosaic of grey and orange with the roofs of the houses from which the church steeples rise up, Saint-Rémy in the foreground, Saint-Jacques in the background. In the distance, you can spot the cross-Channel port and maybe a ferry leaving for the English coast.
A view that makes you want to stop there for a few minutes to contemplate it and enjoy this moment when time seems to stand still.
A unique collection
Then, cross the drawbridge that spans the moat and leads you to the castle. You will now be immersed in a completely different atmosphere: a medieval one this time. The castle, made of flint, sandstone and red and white bricks is imposing, harmonious and simply magnificent. It stands proudly in front of you and welcomes you to a fascinating visit. Inside, it holds an exceptional collection of ivory carvings, one of the largest in France, which makes the place renowned. You will also be able to admire nautical charts, navigational instruments, cutlasses, trunks, sailing ship models… a whole series of interesting and moving objects testifying to the maritime dimension and history of the town, from the 16th century, its heyday, to the 20th century.
A major sea power
The 16th century, Francis I's reign, saw the heyday of the town's sea power. The Dieppe School of Cartography recorded for the King the latest information about known world. The vessels of the shipowner Jehan Ango left from Dieppe to sail around the world, from Sumatra to the coast of Brazil or Canada.
As he had helped King Francis I, the latter came to Dieppe to name him Viscount and appoint him Governor of the town. In Varengeville-sur-Mer, his magnificent manor house testifies to his wealth and to the importance of the town at that time.
The first floor displays French and Dutch Impressionist and Cubist paintings by artists who came to capture the subtle colours of the Norman coastline and especially those of the Alabaster Coast.
Dieppe Castle-Museum Visitor Information