Rouen Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen)

Rouen Cathedral is one of the tallest Gothic cathedrals in the world and the architectural dominant of the French city of Rouen. The magnificent building is as if woven from fine stone lace. For the beauty and elegance of its forms, Rouen Cathedral is classified as a monument of national heritage of France and since 1979 it has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

.

Video: Light show on the facade of Rouen Cathedral

” title=”YouTube video player” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” allowfullscreen> Contents

Highlights

The Catholic cathedral rises 151 meters and is currently the fourth tallest church on the planet, behind only the cathedrals of Ulm (161.5 m) and Cologne (157.4 m) in Germany, and the cathedral of Nord-Dame-de-la-Paye in Côte d’Ivoire (158 m). In addition, Rouen Cathedral is one of the oldest Christian churches in Europe. Its history dates back to the IV century. The surviving Gothic temple was begun in 1145, and its construction lasted until 1506.

.

The cathedral of Rouen has suffered various disasters. It has repeatedly burned in the flames of fires. In the XVIII century, the temple suffered from a powerful hurricane. Rather destroyed the cathedral and the bombing of the Second World War. Quarters of Rouen experienced many air raids. The nave, the tower of St. Romain and the chapels were significantly damaged by bomb explosions and subsequent fires. In late 1999, a hurricane swept through the northern regions of France and powerful wind gusts destroyed one of the four turrets on the tall spire of Rouen Cathedral.

.

Today, Notre Dame in Rouen is beautifully restored and very popular with tourists. People come here to admire the tall metal spire, the correct Gothic proportions and the solemn decor of the interiors. Travelers come to this temple for the colored medieval stained glass windows and tombstones over the burials of celebrities.

.

Every year, spectacular laser shows are organized on the facades of Rouen Cathedral. In the dark, the towers and walls of the Catholic church become a backdrop where fragments of famous paintings by French artist Claude Monet, who made Rouen Cathedral famous with a series of his paintings, are illuminated.

.

In the summer of 2010, a curious performance was held in front of the city hall. 1250 people came to the square holding an enlarged fragment of a painting by Claude Monet. They formed a large rectangle, which from above was similar to one of the paintings of the famous impressionist from the series “Rouen Cathedral”. The mass action was filmed from a helicopter and included in the Guinness Book of Records.

.

History of Rouen Cathedral

The first documents mentioning the Bishop of Rouen date back to 314, and the first Christian basilica in the city was built in the late 4th century. When archaeologists excavated the site, they found that the ancient cathedral complex included two temples dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St. Stephen.

In 841, the Vikings invaded Rouen and completely destroyed both churches. The position of the city, and the region as a whole, remained uncertain, so it was decided not to rebuild the lost Christian shrines. In the early 10th century, the King of France decided to yield to the Vikings and made Rouen the capital of the Duchy of Normandy.

.

To propitiate the conquerors, he gave his daughter for their leader – Rollon, who was called “Pedestrian”. This nickname the Viking received for his tall stature and powerful physique. According to legend, Rollo was so heavy that horses could not bear his weight, so the Duke had to walk a lot. Elevation to the rank of duke took place in a simple basilica, and Rollo received the name of Robert I. The leader of Normandy became the founder of the famous Norman dynasty, which ruled in Normandy and England until the first half of the twelfth century.

.

The large-sized Rouen Cathedral was built and reconstructed over several centuries. The first Romanesque-style church was erected in 1020. This church had a bypass gallery and chapels diverging around the altar. However, only the crypt has survived from the original Romanesque buildings. The rest of the church was built according to the same planning scheme, but already in the tradition of the Gothic.

.

The oldest part of Rouen Cathedral is located on the north side of the tower of Saint-Romain (1145). A tragic fate awaited the north tower. During World War II Rouen was heavily bombed, and after fires in the summer of 1944, Saint-Romain burned almost entirely, except for the sturdy stone walls. The nave of Rouen Cathedral was built in 1200 after the nave of an older Romanesque church collapsed due to a fire. The Gothic nave is 28 m high, 11.3 m wide, and 60 m long.

.

The tower on the south side is commonly referred to as the Oil Tower (75 m). It appeared later than other parts of Rouen Cathedral, in the 80s of the 15th century. The construction of the tower took 20 years. According to legend, the money collected for church indulgences was spent on it. Priests sold most of all indulgences to those who broke the Lenten days and, despite the prohibition, ate butter, so the southern tower of the cathedral was called the Butter Tower.

.

Architectural features

The cathedral complex includes the cathedral itself and the archbishop’s palace. Despite the fact that the Rouen Cathedral was built over several centuries, all its parts look like a harmonious architectural ensemble. The building of the French cathedral is so large that being near it, it is impossible to look around the temple in one glance. It does not fit in the whole field of vision.

.

Originally, the Gothic cathedral had three portals, but two of them were severely destroyed in the 16th century. The only portal on the north side, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, has survived to this day. Above it you can see a carved bas-relief with scenes of the baptism of Jesus Christ. Since the 1760s, this part of Rouen Cathedral has been restored several times.

.

The tall central spire was built in 1557. In those days it was made of wood and covered with tin plates. But in 1822, as a result of a lightning strike, the wooden spire burned down. Then the city authorities decided to build a new spire made of metal in the medieval Gothic style. The erection of the new spire lasted from 1829 to 1876. For 4 years, the cathedral in Rouen was considered the highest in the world, until in 1880, the palm of superiority passed to the Cologne Cathedral.

.

Due to its dark color, the metal spire stands out prominently above the light facades. It continues to be the tallest cathedral spire in France. The massive structure weighs 1,200 tons, and to get to its top, you have to climb 813 steps.

.

Rouen-born writer Gustave Flaubert had the opportunity to observe the construction of the spire and ironically called it “the caprice of a mad builder of steam boilers”. If you look at the spire from a close distance, it does look a little too “technogenic.”

.

The abundance of decorative elements and sculptures on the facades appeared in the period that is commonly referred to as “flaming Gothic”. Under the carved tympanums of Rouen Cathedral are figures of Christian saints. And above the openwork portal is a round rose window typical of Gothic architecture.

.

The interior of Rouen Cathedral

The interior of Rouen Cathedral is as striking as its walls and towers. The spacious altar is surrounded by a colonnade. In the center, under the spire, the vaults rise to a maximum height of 51 m. In the interiors there is not that multicolor, which happens in baroque churches. The color scheme is kept in muted, austere tones, and the overall impression is harmoniously complemented by monochrome sculptures and light vaults.

.

Gothic windows are decorated with ancient stained glass windows of the XIII century, which are blue in color. The characteristic shade is commonly referred to as “Chartres blue”, as the technology of making Gothic stained glass was first used in the Catholic church of Chartres. The beauty of the bright stained glass windows of Rouen Cathedral is described in detail in Gustave Flaubert’s novel “Madame Bovary”. Interestingly, some stained glass windows are signed with the names of the masters who made them. Eight hundred years ago, the technology of casting colored glass was just developing, so stained glass work was considered a high art.

.

Rouen Cathedral is home to several revered tombs. Here the first Duke of Normandy, Rollon the Pedestrian and his son found their final resting place. In the cathedral is a sarcophagus containing the heart of another Duke of Normandy and King Richard I Lionheart of England, who ruled from 1189 to 1199.

.

A statue of Joan of Arc can be seen in one of the chapels. The sculpture of the French heroine with a commemorative inscription from the British did not appear here by chance. On the territory of the Rouen Cathedral was held the trial of Joan of Arc, and she was sentenced to death. In 1431 the girl was accused of heresy and executed, but 25 years later these charges were dropped. Plaques erected in the Rue Saint-Romain attest to the historical events.

.

Rouen Cathedral in paintings by artists

The austere yet elegant Gothic appearance of Rouen Cathedral has inspired many artists. In the late 19th century, French impressionist Claude Monet painted more than 30 canvases with views of the Gothic cathedral. He depicted the ancient temple from three points in different natural light and with marvelous accuracy conveyed the variability of light. Over the painting series Monet worked for about two years, repeatedly coming to Rouen and renting a room opposite the cathedral.

.

Some of the paintings and sketches the artist created on the spot, and over some of them finished work in his studio in the village of Giverny. Canvases were connected by a single subject and organically complemented each other, showing the changes occurring in nature from dawn to dusk. Art historians consider the paintings with the Rouen Cathedral one of the peaks of Impressionism.

.

It is known that a series of paintings of Rouen Cathedral, the artist at first hid even from his friends. Only in 1895, most of the 30 paintings were exhibited in the gallery of Dunard-Ruel, and the exhibition held caused a stir in the public. However, Claude Monet did not manage to sell the whole series, so the paintings were dispersed one by one to different countries of the world. Today they are in private collections and in galleries in Russia, France and the U.S.

.

In 1969, painter Roy Fox Lichtenstein created a triptych dedicated to Rouen Cathedral. The American master worked in the Pop Art style and also depicted the facade of the Gothic temple. Lichtenstein took the works of Claude Monet as a basis, overlaying them with a typographic raster.

.

Opening hours

For tourists, Rouen Cathedral is open without weekends. Tuesday through Saturday it can be accessed from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sundays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Mondays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

.

How to get there

Rouen Cathedral is located in the historic part of the city. It rises on the right bank of the Seine, at 3 rue Saint-Romain, named after the patron saint of Rouen, Saint Romain.

.

Rouen is convenient to get to from Paris. It takes 1.5 hours to reach the city by trains departing from Paris Saint-Lazare station. For 2.40 hours from Paris to Rouen come shuttle buses. Rouen is also connected by rail to Zurich, Nice, Strasbourg and Marseille. And buses are available from London, Lisbon and Madrid.

.