(
IPA ) is a village and
Commune of the
Eure ''
Département '', in
France . It is best known as the location of
Claude Monet 's garden and home.
Giverny sits on the "right Bank" of the
River Seine . The village lies 80km (50 miles) from
Paris , west and slightly north, on the border between the province of
Normandy and the
Île-de-France (it is officially in the ''département'' of
Eure , in the ''
Région '' of
Haute-Normandie ).
A settlement has existed in Giverny since
Neolithic times and a monument uncovered attests to this fact. Archeological finds have included tombs dating from
Gallo-Roman times and to the earlier
1st and
2nd centuries
AD . The town was known in ancient deeds as "Warnacum". The cultivation of grapes has been an occupation of the inhabitants of Giverny since
Merovingian times. The village church dates from the
Middle Ages and is built partially in the
Romanesque style, though additions have since been made. It is dedicated to
Saint Radegonde . The village has remained a small rural setting with a modest population (numbering around 300 in 1883 when Monet discovered it) and has since seen a boom in tourism since the restoration of Monet's house and gardens.
The village of Giverny was noticed by Claude Monet while looking out the window of the train he was on. He made up his mind to move there and rented a house and the area surrounding it. In
1890 he had enough money to buy the house and land outright and set out to create the magnificent gardens he wanted to paint. Some of his most famous paintings, such as his water lily and Japanese bridge paintings, were of his garden in Giverny. The artist lived in Giverny from
1883 until his death in
1926 . He and many members of his family are interred in the village cemetery.
In recent years Monet's house and gardens have been restored and have become a popular tourist attraction (the ''Foundation Claude Monet''), particularly in the summer when the flowers are in bloom.
