Rouen is the capital of Normandy, however its cathedral is, in a manner, the “capital” of Rouen. It’s Rouen’s most prestigious monument and deserves to be explored intimately. You are able to do it any manner you want however I’ve divided the go to into seven matters, or themes, via which to find this superb constructing.
Even when you don’t care about architectural model, if the Center Ages make you yawn, or when you assume Gothic means sporting black eye make-up, Rouen Cathedral will make you sit up and take discover. This can be the start of your love affair with these buildings.
I solely say this as a result of it’s what occurred to me.
I’ve by no means been an enormous fan of spiritual structure however once I first set eyes on the façade of Notre-Dame de Rouen, I virtually misplaced the flexibility to breathe for a second. Exploring this magnificent constructing is among the unmissable and most rewarding issues to do in Rouen.
NOTE: Pages on this website might comprise affiliate hyperlinks, which herald a small fee for gratis to you.
Taking within the filigree that decorates this cathedral’s exterior is like attempting to deconstruct a chunk of lace: intricate, delicate, overwhelming, and in the end unimaginable.
The design, the steadiness, the beautiful carving – it’s as if somebody designed essentially the most sophisticated constructing potential, after which doubled the work.
To construct this from scratch might need been unimaginable, however by including layer upon layer, this lovely gem lastly emerged.
discover the Cathedral of Rouen
The cathedral is Rouen’s most prestigious constructing, reflecting greater than 1000 years of tumultuous historical past, a muse for artists and a magnet for guests.
You’ll be able to strategy in quite a lot of methods, relying in your pursuits, and I’ve utilized seven totally different themes, or prisms, via which you’ll be able to discover this spectacular construction. Whichever you select, you’ll most likely not stroll away untouched.
1. By means of historical past and resilience
If a constructing had been to obtain a prize for survival, this cathedral simply may land in first place. Just like the proverbial phoenix, it has been destroyed and reborn numerous occasions.
- ninth century: this was the primary destruction, courtesy of Viking raids, which left the unique church broken and in want of rebuilding.
- Reconstruction within the Romanesque model would start within the eleventh century, only a few years earlier than the Norman invasion of England (so nicely depicted within the extraordinary Bayeux tapestry a two-hour prepare journey away). However in 1200, a serious fireplace would devastate the cathedral and repairs would take practically half a century.
- In 1562, because the Wars of Faith swept Europe, the Rouen Cathedral was ransacked by Huguenots. They broken its façade, destroyed its statues, and customarily vented their anti-Catholic sentiments.
- Then the vastly anti-clerical French Revolution got here, and the cathedral, its non secular perform eliminated, was a “temple of motive”, as many church buildings had been.
- 1822: Its unique spire was fabricated from wooden and was destroyed by lightning, so a brand new one was constructed, with the extra resilient and trendy forged iron changing the fire-prone wooden.
- 1944: The Allies, preventing to displace German occupying forces throughout World Conflict II, bombed Rouen, inflicting vital damages and destroying a big a part of the cathedral, which might take a dozen years to restore. In truth, after the bombs fell it was nicknamed “Our Woman of the 7 Shells”.
- 1999: A violent storm broken the cathedral but once more, kickstarting one other spherical of repairs.
It by no means ends! But when nothing else, all these challenges underscore the cathedral’s immense resilience and the continued dedication of the Rouennais to rebuild and protect their most beloved monument.
2. By means of creative inspiration
The cathedral has impressed some of the cherished artists of current occasions, Impressionist Claude Monet, who painted its western façade no fewer than 30 occasions, cementing the status of town of Rouen as “capital of Impressionism”.
Due to its intricacy, every tiny patch of the cathedral’s face absorbed gentle in another way, relying on the time of day, virtually driving Monet mad with the impossibility of capturing it totally. And so he stored attempting. Beneath are three of his works.
Camille Pissarro would additionally discover inspiration right here, as would Roy Lichtenstein and loads of others.
The cathedral would additionally encourage writers, like Gustave Flaubert, a local of town, and Victor Hugo, each of whom would usually use the cathedral as a backdrop for his or her scenes.
CURIOUS ABOUT NORMANDY?
Listed here are a number of reliable guidebooks to take alongside in your journey:
3. By means of architectural evolution
If there’s one factor the cathedral is legendary for, it’s the totally different types it has worn over the centuries.
Whereas there aren’t any seen vestiges of the Gallo-Roman church that when stood right here, a chunk of wall from the twelfth century stays from the Romanesque cathedral, seen on the left when you’re dealing with the primary western entrance.
The unique Romanesque cathedral, commissioned by Archbishop Robert the Dane round 1030, featured a lot of the components now we have immediately and would set the stage for the cathedral’s later developments.
The Gothic motion would start with the rebuilding of the cathedral after the dreadful 1200 fireplace. We might see the arrival of these oh-so-Gothic options, the pointed arches and flying buttresses that permit in additional gentle and allowed for larger ceilings.
The Gothic construction was constructed on high of its Romanesque predecessor. In different phrases, the cathedral was constructed from the surface in – first the façade after which, slowly, the inside, with builders dismantling the older construction progressively as they superior inward.
Step-by-step, the constructing would develop. Throughout the fifteenth century, a further storey was added to the primary tower (tour Saint-Romain) and a second, the so-called Butter Tower, or Tour de Beurre, was constructed. However it could fissure, weakening all the construction, calling for reinforcement work.
WHY CALL IT THE BUTTER TOWER?
For considered one of two causes. The primary is due to the stone’s yellowish coloration, which stands out towards the white stone used elsewhere for the cathedral. The opposite, and extra believable one in keeping with historians, is that the tower was financed by donations made to the church for forgiveness for having eaten butter throughout Lent.
The third cathedral tower, the “lantern tower”, was accomplished within the early sixteenth century and is dizzying in top, hovering upwards for 54m/177ft earlier than the spire even begins. Typical of Gothic structure, it was designeçd to attract gentle into the guts of the church and was a exceptional engineering feat on the time.
Its development and that of the ultimate façades would culminate within the cathedral now we have immediately.
This can be a transient overview, in fact, and there’s lots extra to be taught in regards to the cathedral’s structure.
4. By means of its elements
Whereas the cathedral as a complete is great, I’d like to attract your consideration to a few of its elements.
The stained-glass home windows
Take your time admiring the home windows, which vary in date from the thirteenth to the twentieth centuries, permitting the sunshine to enter and to play upon the partitions and statues. A number of the home windows had been supplied by guilds throughout the thirteenth century, such because the one by town’s fishmongers.
One of the crucial lovely is the rose window, though it was shattered throughout a seventeenth century hurricane and finally restored thrugh a donation by Louis XIV.
The rose window of Rouen CathedralThe constructing stone
Two kinds of stone had been utilized in constructing. The primary was sturdy white stone from the Seine valley. The later use of yellow stone accessible nearer to Paris might have been the results of shortage of the white stone; the yellow stone was additionally simpler to sculpt.
The spire
The forged iron spire changed the picket one after lightning struck it in 1822, and it has once more been renovated, this time painted in deep turquoise quite than the unique brown. The arrow weighs 9000 tons: 8000 tons of stone and one ton of iron.
The chapels
The cathedral comprises quite a few small chapels constructed to venerate saints but additionally to extend the cathedral’s dimension.
The principle one is devoted to the Virgin Mary, the Chapelle de la Vierge, and is dwelling to a number of necessary tombs. I used to be significantly intrigued to be taught it included that of Louis de Brézé, whose loss of life resulted within the prolonged relationship between his widow, Diane de Poitiers, and King Henri II (the fort of Chenonceau could be the scene of a few of their amours).
Chapelle de la Vierge at Rouen Cathedral ©OffbeatFrance/Leyla AlyanakFittingly for Rouen, one of many chapels is devoted to Joan of Arc, her modernist stained glass home windows telling the story of her life. On the backside is the inscription: “From the English in homage”.
Joan of Arc chapel in Rouen Cathedral – her statue exhibits her burning on the stake, and above to the suitable is a stained-glass illustration ©OffbeatFrance/Leyla AlyanakThe stairway
A surprising Gothic stairway was constructed to achieve the library throughout the fifteenth century, one of many first Norman examples of a straight stairway (most had been spiral till then).
Gothic stairway resulting in library at Cathédrale de Rouen ©OffbeatFrance/Leyla AlyanakThe statues
Time, climate, conflict, all these have darkened and helped erode among the cathedral’s works. The final time main restoration work occurred, various the façade’s statues had been introduced indoors and changed by copies.
The statues have been beneath risk from air pollution and had been moved indoors. Most had been cleaned, however a number of had been left of their unique state to indicate air pollution harm. ©OffbeatFrance/Leyla Alyanak5. By means of its position as an illustrious necropolis
A bit just like the Pantheon or Saint-Denis Basilica in Paris, well-known personages are buried right here and people with an curiosity in historical past come to pay their respects.
Essentially the most well-known, in fact, is the near-mythical Richard the Lionheart, whose coronary heart was buried right here and whose “gisant”, or recumbent tomb effigy, is clearly seen.
When he died, his physique was cut up in three, along with his entrails buried on the location of his loss of life in battle at Châlus in jap Aquitaine, his physique on the Plantagenet necropolis of Fontevraud Abbey (alongside along with his mother and father, Henry II of England and Eleonor of Aquitaine), and his coronary heart in Rouen, as per his needs.
The grave the place the guts of Richard the Lionheart was buried in Notre-Dame de Rouen Cathedral ©OffbeatFrance/Leyla AlyanakThere are many different recumbent statues buried right here embody Richard’s brother, Henry; Rollo, first Duke of Normandy; and Rollo’s son William.
6. By means of superlatives
We like our “mosts” and our “bests” and Rouen’s cathedral doesn’t lack any of those.
- It’s the tallest cathedral in France and boasts the nation’s tallest spire, at 151m/495ft (for a time, it was the world’s tallest constructing).
- It additionally has France’s second-largest carillion after Chambéry, and one of many first organs to be seen in a Western church.
- And it has the widest façade in France, 61m/200ft (the façade of Notre-Dame in Paris “solely” measures 44m/144ft).
- At 137m/449ft, it’s barely longer than Notre-Dame in Paris, however solely by 10m/33ft. Nonetheless.
7. By means of non secular significance
Immediately’s imposing cathedral is a really early church. It was appointed seat of the bishop of Rouen within the third century, as early Christianity was spreading and is Normandy’s oldest Christian monument, changing into the See of the Archbishop of Rouen within the eighth century, practically 1300 years in the past.
Nothing has interrupted its non secular vocation, except a number of years throughout the French Revolution.
With Rouen was established as Normandy’s capital, the cathedral slowly grew to become a focus of Norman spirituality and energy. The primary Norman duke, Rollo, could be baptized right here, sealing the mixing of Vikings into Christian and Frankish society.
Earlier than you go…
How a couple of e book suggestion?
It’s possible you’ll recall years in the past having come throughout, as a baby, a duplicate of Cathedral: The Story of its Development by David Macauley, an intriguing black-and-white e book full of architectural drawings of a fictitious cathedral’s inside. That e book has now been up to date and republished in full coloration, and whereas it’s designed for kids, it’s additionally good for these of us who want an architectural primer to assist us inform a nave from a transept.
The Rouen Cathedral is a residing monument of each Christianity and France’s heritage, destroyed and rebuilt, by no means static and ever-changing, and all the time enduring in spirit.
Did you take pleasure in this text? I would love when you shared it!
