In my nostalgic saga of my family visits to wonderful places in my belle France, we found one sublime City, Take your time to visit Rouen, it is sublime to say the least and of course , a must to visit, The gorgeous city in the Seine-Maritime dept 76 of the region of Normandie. We have come here often many times, and glad to finally be back again, this time from the Morbihan breton ! . I have my wonderful memories with family visits and even if we are fewer today, the memories lingered forever, I like to tell you more of the Cathédrale Notre Dame of Rouen, part I !!! Monet love it !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The courtyard or Place de la Cathédrale is located in the center of the Gallo-Roman castrum of the 4C, at the crossroads of the Cardo (current Rue des Carmes) and the Decumanus (axis of the rue de Gros-Horloge) The Cathédrale Notre Dame is a marvel, and of course a must to visit if only for the only visit to Rouen, its gothic architecture inspired Claude Monet, with an arrow as high as 151 meters (498 ft), the highest in France. The western facade the rhythm of the facade is given by the four turrets and their perforated arrows, centered on the axis of the portal Notre-Dame .The main porch is the last gothic element adjoining the Cathedral. Stained glass of splendors but also, about 70 sculpture figures of about 20-30 meters high done between 1362-1421.The Saint-Romain tower by making a high floor, covered with an axe roof with curved slate panels, from 1468 to 1478. It housed nine bells, which were added in 1467 by Marie D’Estouteville and in 1470, La Guillaume. The presence of these numerous bells gave the nickname of the “Tower of the Eleven Bells”. From 1477 to 1479, it completely resumed the Canon Bookstore (Chapter library) and built the “booksellers’ Staircase”, which allowed access from the Cathedral’s transept in 1479. Begins at the end of 1485 a tower south of the façade, the Tour du Beurre, finishes in 1506. The tour Saint Romain of 77 meters high (254 ft) at the north face and the tour de Beurre of 80 meters (264 ft)
The Notre-Dame Cathedral, officially the primatial Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Cathedral of Rouen, is the most prestigious monument in the city of Rouen. It is the seat of the archdiocese of Rouen, capital of the ecclesiastical province of Normandy. The Archbishop of Rouen bearing the title of Primate of Normandy, his cathedral thus has the rank of Primate. It is a construction of Gothic architecture whose first stones date back to the High Middle Ages. It has the particularity, rare in France, of keeping its archiepiscopal palace and the surrounding ancillary buildings dating from the same period. The courtyard or Place de la Cathédrale is located in the center of the Gallo-Roman castrum of the 4C, at the crossroads of the Cardo (current Rue des Carmes) and the Decumanus (axis of the rue de Gros-Horloge),
The Cathedral Notre-Dame de Rouen is the highest in France and was the highest building in the world at the time of its completion in 1876, and will remain until 1880, it is also the cathedral which, by the width of its western facade of 61.60 meters , holds the record of France. It is known worldwide, notably through the 28 paintings of the series of Cathedrals of Rouen, painted by Claude Monet. Awesome !!
The Choir is endowed with a new master altar, delivered in 1734. The yellow copper fencing that surrounded the choir since 1526 is replaced by gilded copper grates. The 13C Rood is replaced in 1775 by a classic marble rood. During the French Revolution, the Cathedral became the Temple of Reason. The bells are broken and the Georges of Amboise melted. The revolution kept the Cathedral proper by using the Chapel of the Virgin as a hay loft, while the rest of the building served as a concert hall. It regained the Cathedral status in 1796.
The North tower or Saint-Romain Tower, which is the oldest part of the façade 12C, first Gothic. Another level in flamboyant Gothic style was added and endowed with a roof in frame called axe. Most likely, this tower was isolated from the cathedral and served as a defensive tower before being integrated into the façade of the cathedral. The Butter Tower or tour du Beurre or south tower is much more recent since it dates from the beginning of the 16C. The first stone is laid in 1485. The huge bell of the tower is melted in 1501, it takes the name of its patron, Georges of Amboise. The Butter tower inspired the construction of a famous Chicago building, the Tribune Tower, in 1923-1925.
The portal Saint-Jean in the north is the only tympan that is intact. The tympan is divided into two parts, represents events of the lives of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist. The upper part represents the mysterious passage of St. John the Evangelist. The lower register, from left to right, tells the feast of Herod, the dance of Salome and the decollation of Saint John the Baptist. Between the broken arch and the discharge arch, in the upper tympan of the gate, is the baptism of Christ in the center and the details of the life of Saint John in Chinese shadows. This decoration technique, very original, is a motif of cutting stone, on the background of Fleur de Lys, originally gilded. The western facade rhythm is given by the four turrets and their perforated arrows, centered on the axis of the portal Notre-Dame .The main porch is the last gothic element adjoining the Cathedral.The portal Notre-Dame , the floor of the portal consists of a first large gable cutting a gallery, the large rose in retreat and a second gallery called Viri Galilei
The portal Saint-Étienne is unrecognizable on the portal of the same name in the south. Its tympan is divided into two parts: a Christ in Majesty in a mandorla that welcomes faithful and pilgrims because he was not mutilated by the Protestants, and under the stoning of St. Stephen. The configuration of the tympan such as the glorious Christ in the skies, surrounded by angels, on the upper part, and St Stephen stoned by his executioners in the presence of Saul, illustrates the story of the Martyr of Saint Stephen. The portal Saint-Siméon is built in the 13C on the 8th span of the southern collateral the portals of the transept: the portal of booksellers like that of the Calende, is surmounted by a bow in third-point to vaulted carved above which a gable detaches from the clear glass. The Rose is surmounted by a large gable.
The lantern tower and its arrow the chevet or bedside at the end of the Cathedral is the Chapel of the Virgin. Its broken arched windows are capped with gables including between the pinnacles overcoming the foothills.The chapels of the north aisle are: Saint-Mellon, Sainte-Agathe ,Saint-Jean-de-la-Nef, Saint-Sever, Saint-Julien ,Saint-Eloi ,Chapelle des fonts Saint-Nicolas ,and Sainte-Anne.
The Chapels of the south aisle are: Saint-Étienne-la-Grande-Eglise in the tour du beurre, Saint-Eustache, Saint-Léonard ,Saint-Pierre called the builder ,Sainte-Colombe called Eucharistic Wheat, Sainte-Catherine, portal of the Masons, also known as the Saint-Siméon Portal, Sainte-Marguerite, and the Chapel of the Little Saint-Romain.
The chapel of the Virgin or axial chapel of the cathedral is dedicated to the Virgin. It is made up of three straight spans and a five-sided apse. It was completed between 1305 and 1311 At its apse is an altar and an altarpiece in carved and gilded wood by Jean Racine offered by the Brotherhood of the Blessed Virgin to adorn the axial chapel. They are embellished with an oil on canvas by Philippe de Champaigne (1629), the Adoration of the Shepherds the bays which have stained-glass windows from the 14-15C are punctuated by bundles of fine columns that support the arches The stained-glass windows of the bedside come from of the Saint-Vincent church destroyed in 1944 (WWII), to replace those of the apse of the chapel which disappeared in the 19C consacred at the Nativity and at the coronation of the Virgin The north and south stained glass windows, representing the holy bishops of Rouen To the north, are presented in the first window Saint Marcellin, Saint Maurice, Saint Silvestre and Saint Eusebius The second window welcomes Saint Ouen, Saint Ansbert, Saint Godard and Saint Godard The windows to the south represent in the first Saint Roman, Saint Evodus, Saint Victrice and Saint Innocent and in the second saint Prétextate, saint Maurille, saint Rémi and saint Hugues.
Many tombs adorn the Chapelle de la Vierge, the monumental mausoleum of the cardinals of Amboise, The recumbent figure of the cardinal prince de Croy, archbishop of Rouen, sculpted in 1856. The tomb of Louis de Brézé (d 1531), seneschal of Normandy, in alabaster, black and white marble this tomb made between 1536 and 1544 on the order of Diane de Poitiers his wife, l’Enfeu de Pierre de Brézé and his wife Jeanne du Bec-Crespin, in a flamboyant style from the end of the 15C. The transept has four chapels, all oriented, one at the angles and the other in a apsidiole ,these are: Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Pitié , Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, Chapelle Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc, and Chapelle Saint-Joseph.
The Choir, slightly stalker to the north, has five straight bays and an apse in a five-part hemicycle. It rises on three levels. On either side of the Choir are stalls, which include sculpted mercies illustrating the Bible and secular subjects. It opens on three radiant chapels separated by a large window. The ambulatory gives access from the south to the north to the Saint-André/Saint-Barthelemy Chapel de la Revestiére, the Chapel of the Virgin and the Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul chapel. Like the transept, arches run in the basement and have a passage at the base of the bays that retain the 13C stained glass. The ambulatory houses tombs with recumbents, each with an epitaph, from the south to the north. that of Rollon (a 19C copy) is empty. That of Richard the Lion Heart contained his heart, whose reliquary of lead is preserved with the treasure of the Cathedral; That of Henri the Younger, elder brother of Richard the Lion Heart. That of William I of Normandy, son of Rollon.. Access to the crypt is from the
Chapel of Saint Jeanne D’Arc, in the south brace. On either side of the Choir are stalls, which include sculpted mercies illustrating the Bible and secular subjects. It opens on three radiant chapels separated by a large window. The ambulatory gives access from the south to the north to the Saint-André/Saint-Barthelemy Chapel de la Revestiére, the Chapel of the Virgin and the Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul chapel.
A lot of history I like tell us that a sermon by Bishop Victrice dated about 395-396AD implies the presence of a Cathedral in the city and evokes the construction of a nearby Basilica. In the 5C, these two basilicas were brought together by galleries. In the 10C, after the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911, Rouen became the capital of the young Duchy of Normandy, the chief Viking Rollon would have received the baptism in 912 (under the first name Robert) in the primitive basilica. Necropolis of the first dynasty of the Dukes of Normandy, the Cathedral (the first Carolingian edifice) was enlarged only under the reign of Richard I, the latter dying in 996. Around 1237, the Cathedral seems to be completed. The work on the western façade resumed from 1370, to end at 1450. It was then that a series of arches were built and filled with more than 60 statues.
Right here at the Notre Dame Cathedral come to see the night illuminations a light and sound show with as theme the sea conquest name Rendez-vous avec la Lumiére ! Place de la Cathédrale next from May 31 to September 27, 2025. The Rouen tourist office info no this event: https://en.visiterouen.com/news/to-the-rhythm-of-the-highlights/cathedral-of-light/
The official Cathedral of Rouen: http://www.cathedrale-rouen.net/site/index.php
The Rouen tourist office on the Cathedral: https://en.visiterouen.com/heritages/history/the-cathedral-intimate-and-flamboyant/
The city of Rouen on the Cathedral: https://rouen.fr/cathedrale-notre-dame
The Seine Maritime dept 76 on the Cathedral of Rouen: https://www.seine-maritime-tourisme.com/en/touristic_sheet/cathedrale-notre-dame-de-rouen-rouen-en-5132815/
There you go folks, a dandy, sublime wonderful Notre Dame Cathedral , one to be visit for sure. one of the places to see in wonderful Rouen. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Cathédrale Notre Dame of Rouen, part I !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 