The historic capital of Normandy, Rouen is a famous old French city commonly known as the “city with a hundred bells chiming in the air”. With numerous cathedrals, this beautiful city exudes the charms of traditional French culture. Situated north of France on the River Seine, the capital city of Normandy is well known for its Notre Dame Cathedral and the city where Joan of Arc was trialled. Today, the city of Rouen is a vibrant city with old and new attractions to welcome its visitors.
The key attraction for Rouen, this Roman Catholic Cathedral is the important icon for Rouen with its majestic and grand architecture. The cathedral houses the tomb of Richard the Lionheart, who was the King of England. Located in the center of the city, it is one of the most visited attractions in Rouen. Magnificent light shows illuminate the cathedral at night, a definite must see for the city.
A church was already present at the location in the late 4th century, and eventually a cathedral was established in Rouen as in Poitiers. It was enlarged by St. Ouen in 650, and visited by Charlemagne in 769. All the buildings perished during a Viking raid in the 9th century. The Viking leader, Rollo, founder of the Duchy of Normandy, was baptised here in 915 and buried in 932. His grandson, Richard I, further enlarged it in 950. St. Romain's tower was built in 1035. Construction on the current building began in the 12th century in Early Gothic style for Saint Romain's tower, front side porches and part of the nave. The cathedral was burnt in 1200. Others were built in High Gothic style for the mainworks: nave, transept, choir and first floor of the lantern tower in the 13th century; side chapels, lady chapel and side doorways in the 14th century. Some windows are still decorated with stained glass of the 13th century, famous because of a special cobalt blue colour, known as "the blue from Chartres". The north transept end commenced in 1280.
The cathedral has actually been destroyed and rebuilt several times before.
The Renaissance spire was destroyed by lightning in 1822. A new one was rebuilt in Neo-Gothic style, but of cast iron instead of wood. The cathedral was named the tallest building (the lantern tower with the cast iron spire of the 19th century) in the world (151 m) from 1876 to 1880. In the 20th century, during World War II, the cathedral was bombed in April 1944 by the British Royal Air Force. Seven bombs fell on the building, narrowly missing a key pillar of the lantern tower, but damaging much of the south aisle and destroying two rose windows. One of the bombs did not explode. A second bombing by the U.S. Army Air Force (before the Normandy Landings in June 1944) burned the oldest tower, called the North Tower or Saint-Romain Tower. During the fire the bells melted, leaving molten remains on the floor. In 1999, during Cyclone Lothar, a copper-clad wooden turret, which weighed 26 tons, broke and fell partly into the church and damaged the choir.
Loading contexts...
