Rouen is a very interesting city out of the beaten tourist track. Discover it before the crowds invade it.
Start your tour of Old Rouen from the cathedral and rue St-Romain, lined with old half-timbered houses. It leads to the church of St-Maclou (1437-1517). A little further on, the Aître St-Maclou and its macabre Dance of Death in the courtyard is one of the last examples of a medieval plague cemetery. Admire the 14C church of St-Ouen, a Gothic masterpiece, before turning off towards the Palais de Justice (early Renaissance). Beyond is the Place du Vieux Marché, dominated by the church of Ste-Jeanne-d'Arc. Rue du Gros-Horloge leads back to the cathedral.
Notre-Dame cathedral's building began in the 12C, was embellished in the 15C by the master worker Guillaume Pontifs, then in the 16C by Roland Leroux, it is a pinnacle of the French Gothic art.
The amazingly perforated west facade has two delicately sculpted doorways enclosing the majestic central door by Roland Leroux. To the right is the grandiose flamboyant Butter tower, while the Saint-Romain tower is in the early Gothic style. On the south side, the Calendar doorway, and opposite the Staircase of the Libraries are true masterpieces.
The interior gives an impression of simplicity and harmony. The nave in the early Gothic style is made up of eleven bays in four stages. Dominating the crossing of the transept is the arresting lantern tower of a remarkable starkness. In the transept, the backs of the lateral doors are covered in attractive sculpted decorations. The north crossing has a large 14C rose window. Under the chancel, the ring-shaped crypt was part of the Roman church; the heart of Charles V is preserved there. The ambulatory is made up of three radiating chapels. There are recumbent figures of Rollon, of Richard the Lionheart and of William Long Sword. In the chapel of the Virgin is the sculpted head of Roland Leroux. To the left is the entombment of Louis de Brézé, husband of Diane of Poitiers, by Jean Goujon. In a rich retable from1643, there is an attractive picture by Philippe de Champaigne, The Adoration of the shepherds.
It was on the Old-Market square (Place du Vieux-Marché) that Joan of Arc was tortured on the 30th of May 1431, The place is marked by a «Cross of restoration». This square accommodates a new covered market. The église Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc and a national monument.
The St-Ouen Church is an old abbatial of the 14th century and is remarkable in terms of its size. It is one of the most delightful high Gothic churches. The building of this church was started in 1318 and finally completed in the 16th century. You will notice the chevet, the central tower and the windows inside (some modern) and the grilles which section off the chancel.
Do not miss Rue Damiette - this old street bordered with half-timbered houses offers a beautiful view of the central tower of Saint-Ouen church. Do not miss Aitre St-Maclou, a court surrounded by wooden panelled buildings with funerary elements such as a depiction of a macabre dance, a frieze decorated with sculls and leg bones etc. This is the relic of a mass grave of plague victims from the Middle Ages. Now a school of Fine Arts. The Crucifix in the centre recalls the buildings former role.
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