Built: 19th century Status: Museum and Factory for Benedictine liqueur Visitable?: Yes, for a fee Notable:Beautiful palace for the production of Benedictine
For many people who like their liqueur cocktail drinks, Benedictine is no stranger. On its own, with brandy (called B&B) or used to spice up deserts (like crepes), Benedictine started its long life as a medicinal drink.
The drink was conceived by Alexandre Le Grand in the 19th century, and like with Coca-Cola, the recipe is a closely guarded secret.
Side view of the Fecamp Benedictine museum and factory
The factory is located in the Benedictine Palace in Fecamp. The beautiful and very impressive building does indeed look more like a royal palace than a factory.
Even if today it’s a museum, it still host a rather large factory in its cellars. The museum is quite interesting, where they show all the spices used to make the drink, and they even have a large display of all the fake Benedictines that have shown up around the world.
Inside you can still see many of the rooms used by the factory staff, and by the Benedictine monks:
Benedictine palace dining room
The museum not only displays all the items of the production of the Benedictine liqueur, but also items of daily use in the times when the drink was invented.
Weapon room of the Benedictine palace in Fecamp
Displays in the Benedictine palace museum in Fecamp
The actual factory is installed in the cellars, and is still in operation. During the visit, you will be able to see the production and storage of the liqueur.
Benedictine storage
At the end of the visit you will be able to sample the delights of Benedictine.
Fecamp is a small coastal city with an active fishing fleet. The fishing fleet is central to the city, since the fishing boats have been going to Newfoundland for over a century to fish for cod, and another large portion of the fleet fished for herring. The city used to…
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