1-Many monuments reveal the blomssoming of Caen along the centuries.
To the foot of the castel, the Saint Pierre place, very animated, give two testimonies of it :
The Saint Pierre church (of which the imposing tower has been remade after 1944) has been begun in the 13th century in the gothic style and finished three centuries later by HECTOR SOHIER; the aspe, remarkable by the luxuriance of his decoration, constitute a jewel of the Renaissance and the stamp of the artist is to be found in the arches of the absidials chapels.
2-Italian renaissance, presents in Caen, in Normandie
Other success of the first Italian Renaissance inspiration : the internal courtyard of the hotel d'Escoville, built by the same architect between 1533 and 1538 at the request of a rich merchant. The harmony of proportions is underlined by powerful statues with mythological or biblical themes. This hotel is the seat of the "Syndicat d'initiative" and academy of Caen.
Statue of Judith, in the courtyard of the hotel d'Escoville XVIe century
Nicolas Le Valois d'Escoville, rich merchant of his state and alchemist to his hours, entrusted, in 1533, to HECTOR SOHIER the care to build a mansion inspired by the italian Renaissance. The setting evokes often the theme of vengeance and punishment, thus Judith and Holopherne, David and Goliath, Apollon and Marcias. Very damaged in 1944, the structure was restored with an admirable care. The apse of Saint-Pierre is probably owed to the same architect
The architect? several hypotheses
-A skillful builder that would have been also the author of the castle Fountaine-Henri and of Lasson, of the Hôtels de Duval de Mondrainville in Caen and other remarkable structures of the Renaissance in Normandy.
-HECTOR SOHIER, the wonderful builder of the abside of Saint-Pierre, near, that present an infinity of identical details.
-In last analysis, the role of architect would be attributed to Blaise Leprestre, Master maçon from Caen, of which the reputation at first of the XVIe century was considerable. In any case, The entrance door given on the Saint-Pierre Place is undeniably attributed to him by a text of Cahaignes, and therefore, maybe, the body of the body building alongside the Saint-Pierre Place, this last built in 1537.
Castel of Lasson
3-The principal characteristics of the castle of Lasson and of his history are the following :
It seems to have been conceived in two campaign
About 1530, family THESARD would have required to Hector SOHIER that constructs by then the Saint-Pierre church of Caen to rebuilt the castel, by then gothique, in the Renaissance styl.
In 1628, by marriage the castle pass to the family CROISMARE
Other informations on Caen, Nicolas Le Valois and Hector Sohier :
Statue of Judith, in the courtyard of the hotel d'Escoville XVIe century
Castel of Lasson
retour chez les SOHIER 
back to the SOHIER
