Rouen : The hundred steeples city

In the heart of Rouen (see Rouen : Gros-Horloge, Bourgtheroulde and half-timber) the 1600 years old Cathedral Notre-Dame shows the evolution of gothic style : Saint-Romain Tower [1] (12th c.), Southern facade [2], Portails des Libraires and Calende (14th c.) [3], the West Wall (an inspiration for Claude Monet) and the Beurre Tower (15th and 16th c.), as well as the 152 meters 19th c. cast iron spike [4]. Deeply hurt during World War II, the cathedral has not yet been totally repaired, and, during the storm of Decembre 26, 1999, part of the spike fell and deeply damaged the roof, the frame and the vault. The choir was devastated. The cathedral [5] offers a wide range of stained-glass from the 13th to the 17th centuries. See the ambulatory with its recumbent figures : Rollon and Richard the LionHeart, the Renaissance tombs, the Chapel of the Virgin, the chapel dedicated to Joan of Arc. (See Joan of Arc in Rouen).

Built between the 14th and 16th c. the Abbey Church of Saint-Ouen [6] is one of the most beautiful gothic monuments in France with its fine yellow 14th c. stained-glass. Saint-Ouen accomplished many a miracle which can be read in the sculpted Portail des Marmousets.

Saint-Maclou [7], a masterpiece of flamboyant gothic art (15th c.) has a splendid portal with five porches. Its Renaissance organ chest is outstanding. N° 184, rue Martainville, is a unique site in France : the former cloister-shaped graveyard of the Aitre Saint-Maclou [8] [9], is a testimony of the former Middle-Ages plague-victims open graves. The interior courtyard is bordered by beamed timber frame buildings. The groundfloor galleries were open. The attics, nowadays closed, were used as charnels. On the 31 pillars [10] is carved a danse macabre : skulls, tibias and gravediggers tools . The building host nowadays the Ecole des Beaux-Arts et d'Architecture.

More information :

» Related Escapades

Rouen : Gros-Horloge, Bourgtheroulde and half-timber
Rouen, main city of Normandy, has always been a place where history and architectural styles mingle, in churches as well as in the belfry, towers, mansions and half-timbered houses

Joan of Arc in Rouen
Photos about Joan of Arc's day, on May 30 in Rouen

» Useful websites

» » Search also Francerama directory