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 part of the area known as
Norman Switzerland
Norman Switzerland (; ) is a term for part of Normandy, France, in the border region of the departments Calvados and Orne. Its name comes from its rugged and verdant relief, apparently resembling the Swiss Alps, with gorges carved by the river O ...
.
The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets: La Monnerie, La Perrière, La Morlandière, La Vallerie, La Jehannière, Les Haies, Les Loges, La Gaumonnière, L'Abbaye de Belle Étoile, La Hagrie, Épivent, Visance and Cerisy-Belle-Étoile.
The commune is traversed by the
Noireau
The Noireau is a river in northwestern France, crossing the departments of Orne and Calvados (department), Calvados. It is 43.26 km long. Its source is in Saint-Christophe-de-Chaulieu, and it flows into the river Orne (river), Orne on the bor ...
and Visance rivers, as well as the Fontaines stream.
Points of Interest
*The communal forest of Cerisy-Belle-Etoile is a 90 hectare forest open to the public.
National heritage sites
*The former Abbey of Belle-Etoile is a thirteenth century former abbey established after the conquest of Normandy by
Philip II of France
Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), also known as Philip Augustus (), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks (Latin: ''rex Francorum''), but from 1190 onward, Philip became the firs ...
. It was made a
Monument historique
() is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
in 1926.
File:FranceNormandieCerisyBelleEtoileStPierreDEntremontNoireau.jpg, Noireau River in Cerisy-Belle-Étoile
File:Cerisy-Belle-Etoile, le Bourg.JPG, Le Bourg in Cerisy-Belle-Etoile
File:Abbaye de Belle-Étoile 006.jpg, Abbaye de Belle-Étoile
Culture
*Les Bichoiseries is an annual
Contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to:
Genres or audiences
* Adult contemporary music
* British contemporary R&B
* Christian adult contemporary
* Christian contemporary hit radio
* Con ...
festival each June that occurs on Mount Cerisy. It attracts about 6,600 vistors per year. The festival has been going since 2005, originally hosted in
La Chapelle-Biche
La Chapelle-Biche () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.
See also
*Communes of the Orne department
The following is a list of the 381 communes of the Orne department of France.
The communes cooperate in the follo ...
before moving to Cerisy-Belle-Étoile in 2013.
People linked with the commune
*
Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont
Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont (April 1679 – 1734) was a French explorer from an ancient Normand family who was recognized and ennobled by Louis XVI for documenting and making the first European maps of the Missouri and Platte rivers ...
(1679 – 1734), a French explorer who documented his travels across North America was born here, and later buried here.
See also
*
Communes of the Orne department
The following is a list of the 381 communes of the Orne department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):