Rouen Cathedral (french: Cathédrale primatiale Notre-Dame de l'Assomption de Rouen) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is the

see See or SEE may refer to: * Sight - seeing Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Television * ...

of the

Archbishop of Rouen The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Ar ...

Primate of Normandy Primate of Normandy (french: Primat de Normandie) is a Roman Catholic title borne by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Rouen. History The title stems from the late Roman Empire: in the time of Constantine, the Romans across the Empire were evangel ...

. It is famous for its three towers, each in a different style. The cathedral, built and rebuilt over a period of more than eight hundred years, has features from

Early Gothic Early Gothic is the style of architecture that appeared in northern France, Normandy and then England between about 1130 and the mid-13th century. It combined and developed several key elements from earlier styles, particularly from Romanesque ar ...

to late

Flamboyant Flamboyant (from ) is a form of late Gothic architecture that developed in Europe in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, from around 1375 to the mid-16th century. It is characterized by double curves forming flame-like shapes in the bar-tr ...

and

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

. It also has a place in art history as the subject of a series of impressionist paintings by

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

History

First churches

Christianity was established in Rouen in about 260 by Saint

Mellonius Saint Mellonius (229-314) was an early 4th-century Bishop of Rotomagus (now Rouen) in the Roman province of Secunda Provincia Lugdunensis (now Normandy in France). He is known only from a 17th-century 'Life' of little historical value, meaning ...

, who became the first bishop. The first church is believed to have been under or close to the present cathedral. In 395, a large basilica with three

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s was built at the same site. In 755, the archbishop

Rémy Rémy (; pcd, R’my) is a commune in the department of Pas-de-Calais in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Rémy lies in the valley of the river Sensée, some southeast of Arras, on the D9 road. Population Places of interes ...

, the son of the Frankish statesman and military leader

Charles Martel Charles Martel ( – 22 October 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesma ...

, established the first Chapter of the cathedral and constructed several courtyards and buildings around the church, including a palace for the archbishop. The cathedral was enlarged by St. Ouen in 650, and visited by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

in 769. However, beginning in 841, a series of

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

raids seriously damaged the cathedral complex. The Viking leader

Rollo Rollo ( nrf, Rou, ''Rolloun''; non, Hrólfr; french: Rollon; died between 928 and 933) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, today a region in northern France. He emerged as the outstanding warrior among the Norsemen who had se ...

became first Duke of the

Duchy of Normandy The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans. From 1066 until 1204, as a result of the Norman c ...

and was baptised in the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

cathedral in 915 and buried there in 932. His grandson,

Richard I of Normandy Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: ''Richard Sans-Peur''; Old Norse: ''Jarl Rikard''), was the count of Rouen from 942 to 996.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln ...

, further enlarged it in 950. In the 1020s, the archbishop Robert began to rebuild the church in the Romanesque style, beginning with a new choir, crypt and

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

, and then a new

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

. The Romanesque cathedral was consecrated by the archbishop Maurille on October 1, 1063, in the presence of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

, not long before his conquest of England.

The Gothic cathedral

Façade de la cathédrale de Rouen au XIIe siècle

The ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

project for a cathedral in the new Gothic style was first launched by the Archbishop of Rouen, Hugues of Amiens, who had attended the consecration in 1144 of the

Basilica of Saint-Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...

, the first Gothic structure, with its emphasis upon filling the interior with light. In 1145, he began constructing a tower, now called the Tower Saint-Roman, in the new Gothic style. A complete reconstruction of the cathedral was begun by his successor, Gautier the Magnificent. in 1185 he demolished the Romanesque nave and began building the western end of the sanctuary. He had completed the west front and first traverses when the work was interrupted by a major fire on Easter eve in 1200, which destroyed a large part of the town and seriously damaged the unfinished church and its furnishings. Gautier quickly repaired the damage and resumed the work, which was directed by his master mason, Jean d'Andeli. The nave was sufficiently complete by 1204 for King

Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French ...

to be received there to celebrate the annexation of Normandy to the Kingdom of France. By 1207 the main altar was in place in the choir. The first architectural addition to the new church was a series of small chapels between the buttresses on the north and south sides of the nave, requested by the city's prominent religious brotherhoods and corporations. In 1280 the surrounding spaces and buildings were modified to permit the construction of portals on the north and south transepts. The next addition was a response to the growing role of the Virgin Mary in church doctrine; the small axial chapel at the east end of the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

was replaced by a much larger chapel dedicated to her, begun in 1302. The west front was also given new decoration between 1370 and 1450. Beginning in 1468 a highly ornamental new top, made of iron and covered with stone tiles, in the late Gothic

style was added to the tower of Saint-Romaine.

16th century – The Transition and the Renaissance

Cardinal-Archbishop

Georges d'Amboise Georges d'Amboise (1460 – May 25, 1510) was a French Roman Catholic cardinal and minister of state. He belonged to the house of Amboise, a noble family possessed of considerable influence: of his nine brothers, four were bishops. His father, ...

(1494-1510) had a major influence on the church architecture. He incorporated into the Gothic design new Renaissance features, as he had done in his own residence, the

Château de Gaillon The Château de Gaillon is a French Renaissance castle located in Gaillon, Normandy region of France. History The somewhat battered and denuded Château de Gaillon, begun in 1502 on ancient foundations was the summer archiepiscopal residence of G ...

, The first major project of the period was a new tower to match the old Saint-Romaine tower, built almost three centuries earlier. Work on the tower had begun in 1488, under master builder Guillaume Pontifs, but under Cardinal d'Amboise in 1496 the project was taken over 1496 by Jacques Le Roux, who had a more ambitious plan with Renaissance touches. The Pope authorised Cardinal d'Amboise to grant dispensations to consume milk and butter during

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

, in exchange for contributions to the tower. The new tower soon took on the nickname of the Butter Tower, though the money collected paid only a portion of the cost. File:Louis XII et le cardinal d'Amboise.JPG, Cardinal Georges d'Amboise following Louis XII of France (1503) File:Une vue de Rouen en 1526.JPG, Rouen and the Cathedral in 1525, from the "Livre des Fontaines" by Jacques Le Lieur. As the new tower was being built, the west front of the Cathedral showed weaknesses and began to tilt. Cardinal d'Amboise ordered its complete reconstruction. This was carried out by master builder Rouilland Le Roux, nephew of Jacques Le Roux, in a lavishly ornate

style. It was covered with layers of lacelike stone

tracery Tracery is an architecture, architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of Molding (decorative), moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the s ...

, and hundreds of sculpted figures were added to the arch and niches of the portals. To stabilise the new facade, he added two massive buttresses, also richly decorated with sculpture. In addition to his changes to the Cathedral, the Cardinal and his architect reconstructed and decorated the Palace of the Archbishop close by, adding a new reception hall, galleries, gardens and fountains. In 1514 the flèche, or spire of the cathedral, a lead-covered wooden spire over the lantern tower, fell. It was replaced within a few months in exactly the same form and with the same materials.

17th–18th century

File:Israël Silvestre, Veue de l'Eglise nostre Dame de Rouen, 1664, NGA 60930.jpg, The cathedral in 1664 In the late 16th century the cathedral was badly damaged during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...

: in 1562 the Calvinists attacked the furniture, tombs, stained-glass windows and statuary. The cathedral was again struck by lightning in 1625 and 1642, then damaged by a hurricane in 1683. In 1796, in the course of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, the new revolutionary government

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

the cathedral and transformed it for a time into a Temple of Reason. Some of the furniture and sculpture was sold, and the chapel fences were melted down to make cannon.

19th century

File:CathRouen.jpg, The cathedral in 1822 with the Renaissance spire In 1822 lightning started a fire that destroyed the wood and lead Renaissance spire of the central tower. The architect

Jean-Antoine Alavoine Jean-Antoine Alavoine (4 January 1778 – 15 November 1834) was a French architect best known for his column in the Place de la Bastille, Paris (1831–1840), the July Column to memorialize those fallen in the Revolution of 1830. The column, cons ...

proposed to replace it with a new spire made of cast iron. The idea of an iron spire was highly controversial; the novelist

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

denounced it as "the dream of a metal-worker in a delirium." The new spire, 151 meters (495 feet) tall, was not finally completed until 1882. For a short time, from 1876 to 1880, the spire made Rouen Cathedral the world's tallest building, until the completion of

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of ...

20th century

Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1984-035-10A, Frankreich, Rouen, beschädigte Kathedrale

In 1905, under the new law separating church and state, the Cathedral became the property of the French government, which then granted to the Catholic Church its exclusive use. At the beginning of World War II in 1939, remembering the damage caused to French cathedrals in World War I, the Cathedral authorities protected the sculpture of the cathedral with sandbags and removed the old stained glass and transported it to sites far from the city. Nonetheless, in the weeks before

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

in Normandy, the cathedral was hit twice by Allied bombs. In April 1944, seven bombs dropped by the British

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

hit the building, narrowly missing a key pillar of the lantern tower, and damaging much of the south aisle and destroying two windows. In June 1944, a few days before D-Day, bombs dropped by the

U.S. Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

set fire to the Saint-Romain tower. The bells melted, leaving molten remains on the floor. Following World War II, a major restoration effort began to repair war damage by the Service of Historic Monuments, concluding in 1956. Then a new campaign began to consolidate the structure and to restore the statuary of the west front, including putting back four statues that had been moved elsewhere. In 2016, the project was finished and the scaffolding which had covered much of the cathedral for a half-century was finally removed. Prior to the re-opening of the Cathedral in 1956, the choir, damaged by the bombing during the war, was given a substantial renewal. This included a new high altar topped by an 18th-century Rococo statue of Christ made of gilded made by

Clodion Claude Michel (20 December 1738 – 29 March 1814), known as Clodion, was a French sculptor in the Rococo style, especially noted for his works in marble, bronze, & terracotta. Life He was born in Nancy to Anne Adam and Thomas Michel, an un ...

, which had previously been on the altar screen, as well as new choir screens, a new episcopal throne, and a new communion table and pulpit made of cast iron and gilded copper. Beginning in 1985, excavations were carried out beneath the church and its surroundings, which uncovered vestiges of the earlier Paleochristian buildings and foundations of the Carolingian cathedral. In 1999, during

Cyclone Lothar Cyclone Lothar is regarded as the worst European windstorm recorded during the 20th century. Crossing France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany between 25 December and 27 December 1999, Cyclone Lothar resulted in 110 fatalities (inclu ...

, a copper-clad wooden turret, which weighed 26 tons, broke free from the tower and fell partly into the church, damaging the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

Timeline

* c. 260 - Saint

recorded as first bishop of Rouen * c. 396 - Bishop and Saint

Victricius Saint Victricius (french: Victrice; it, Vittricio) also known as Victricius of Rouen ( 330 – c. 407 AD) was a bishop of Rouen (393–407), missionary, and author. His feast day is August 7. Life Victricius was Gallic by birth, the son of a Rom ...

builds first basilica * 769 -

attends the Cathedral for Easter * 1063 - Romanesque cathedral consecrated * 1145 - Reconstruction in Gothic style of Saint Roman tower begins * 1200 - On Easter Day, a fire causes major damage to interior of cathedral * 1207 - Main altar in place * 1214 - Work underway on axial chapel * c. 1247 - Gothic cathedral complete * c. 1270 - chapels of nave constructed * 1280 - Portals of transept begun * 1302 - Work begins on Chapel of the Virgin * 1370 - Rose window on west facade begun * 1478 - Completion of upper level of the Tour Saint-Romain * 1479 - Library of the Chapter completed * 1484 - Porch of Libraries completed * 1485-1506 - Construction of the Butter Tower * 1508 - Restoration of west front begins, with addition of lavish late Gothic decoration * 1514 - Gothic spire called "La Grêle" on the bell tower burns and is quickly rebuilt in same style * 1562 -Cathedral pillaged by Protestants in the

European wars of religion The European wars of religion were a series of wars waged in Europe during the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries. Fought after the Protestant Reformation began in 1517, the wars disrupted the religious and political order in the Catholic Chu ...

* 1683 -A hurricane causes major damage to the cathedral * 1796 -

briefly turns Cathedral into a "Temple of Reason" * 1822 - A fire destroys the fragile Renaissance spire * 1884 - The spire is replaced by a new version made of cast iron and copper * April and June 1944 - Cathedral damaged by Allied aerial bombing in advance of

Normandy Landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

* 1980s - Completion of restoration of World War II damage * December 26, 1999 - High winds cause a copper and wood turret to fall through the vaults of the choir

Exterior

West front

File:CathedralRouen.JPG, The west front File:Rouen (37903218494).jpg, The portals and sculpture galleries File:Rouen (38564194996).jpg, Tympanum of the portal of Notre-Dame The west front of the Cathedral, with its three portals, is the traditional entrance to the Cathedral. The portals are aligned with the three aisles of the nave. The west front was first built in the 12th century, entirely redone in the 13th century, and then totally redone again at the end of the 14th century, each time become more lavishly decorated. The main, or central portal, was originally dedicated to St. Romain in the 12th century, but was rededicated to the Virgin Mary when the facade was remade on a grander scale at the beginning of the 14th century. The central sculptural element of the tympanum, or arch over the portal, is a

Tree of Jesse The Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree which rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. It is the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a ge ...

, a traditional depiction of the family tree of Christ. At the top is the Virgin Mary, with a halo of sun and stars. The arches above the tympanum of the portal are filled with sculpture of prophets,

sibyl The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local traditi ...

s, or fortune-tellers, and patriarchs. The portals on either side of the central portal followed the same format, with sculpture in the tympanum vividly illustrating Biblical stories. The portal to the of the central portal, facing the building, is dedicated to

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given t ...

, and the sculpture in the tympanum above illustrates the baptism of Christ, the passage of Saint John; the dance of Salome; the feast of Herod; and the beheading of

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. The portal to the right is devoted to

Saint Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

, and its sculpture illustrates the gathering of souls, Christ in majesty, and the stoning of Stephen. The portal to the Traces of pigment and gilding on the sculpture indicate that all the sculpture was originally brightly colored. File:Voussures portail Notre-Dame.jpg, Details of the sculpture in the Voussures over the Portal of Notre-Dame File:Portail Saint-Etienne (cathédrale de Rouen) 10.jpg, Detail of the portal of St. Stephen File:Portail Saint-Jean (cathédrale de Rouen) 10.jpg, Detail of the Portal of Saint John File:Contrefort Nord de la façade occidentale 05.jpg, Sculpture of Apostles on the North Buttress The towering buttresses on either side of the central portal were installed 14th century to strengthen the west front, and were covered with galleries of sculpture to merge them into the rest of the decoration.

Saint-Romain Tower

File:Tour Saint-Romain, Notre-Dame de Rouen.jpg, Saint-Romain tower File:Rouen Cathédrale Primatiale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption Tour Saint-Romain.jpg, Top of the Saint-Romain tower File:Chapiteau historié tour Saint-Romain.jpg, Capital of a column of the Saint-Romain tower The Saint-Romain tower, on the left facing the west front, was begun in 1145 as part of the original Gothic cathedral. The top of the tower, more decorative, was added in the 15th century. Like the Butter tower on the right side, it is separated from and slightly behind the main block of the west front. The ground level has no windows, and contains the Baptistry. Above is a tall vaulted space with are four levels of bays, topped by a very ornate belfry. This contains the bourdon or largest Cathedral bell, named Joan of Arc, which weighs 9.5 tons. It also houses the sixty-four smaller bells of the

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniou ...

, which was restored in 2016. It is the second-largest carillon in France. The roof of the tower is decorated with sculptures of four small suns, made of gilded lead.

Butter Tower

File:Tour du Beurre 04.jpg, Sculpture on the Butter Tower File:La tour du Beurre.JPG, The Butter Tower File:Sommet de la tour de Beurre de la cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Top of the Butter Tower File:Tour du Beurre 06.jpg, Sculpture and gargoyles on the Butter Tower The Butter Tower was constructed between 1488 and 1506, in a late Gothic

style. It received its popular name because donors to the tower were given dispensation to consume butter and milk during Lent. The dense decoration of the tower emphasises its height; tall pointed niches for sculpture, buttresses decorated with tracery, pinnacles, gables and arches. At the top, the square plan of the tower becomes an octagon, with an ornate stone crown. A bell for the Butter Tower, named George l'Amboise in honor of the Cardinal, was completed in 1501. It cracked in 1786 and was melted down during the French Revolution.

Lantern tower and spire

File:Cathédrale de Rouen vue de l'Opéra.JPG, The spire and clochetons, seen from the Rouen Opera File:Flèche de la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen 01.jpg, Top of the Flèche A central lantern tower over the transept is a tradition of Gothic architecture in Normandy. The lantern tower with its flèche, or spire is placed over the transept, almost in the centre of the cathedral, and is 151 meters high, the tallest of the three towers. The first two levels of the lantern tower. were built in the 13th century. The original Gothic spire was destroyed by fire in 1514, and rebuilt in 1544 in wood and lead by the master builder Robert Becquet. The next builder, Rouland Le Roux, consolidated the first two levels of the lantern tower and added flamboyant decoration and sculpture. Another fire in 1822 destroyed the lead and wood spire, which was then replaced, after much controversy, by the architect

with a tower of iron and copper, finished in 1882. He surrounded the new spire with four smaller spires, made of copper. One of these fell during a hurricane in 1999, going through the roof and damaging the choir stalls below.

Tourelles and sculpture galleries

File:Galerie de statues Nord 01.jpg, Sculpture and tourelles on the northwest front File:Rouen (37903225844).jpg, Archbishops and apostles on the west front File:Galerie de statues Nord 08.jpg, An apostle on the northwest front File:Galerie de statues Nord 11.jpg, An angel musician on the northwest front In the 13th century four smaller towers, or tourelles, with spires, were added atop the buttresses that were built to support the west front, two on either side of the central portal below. In the 14th century, to enrich the decoration even further, three gables were attached to the west front below each of the tourelles. The gables were filled with sculpture; over the north portal, statues of the first archbishops, apostles and saints, and on the south, kings and prophets from the Old Testament. They added another layer to the almost incredible complexity of the west front.

The Nave exterior

File:Rouen Cathédrale Primatiale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption Nordseite 2.jpg, Flying buttresses on the north side reach over the roof of the collateral aisle to support the upper walls of the nave File:Rouen2009 (3947908741).jpg, The buttresses and decoration of the roofline of the nave Flying buttresses along the north and south sides of the cathedral reach up over the roof of the collateral aisles to support the upper walls of the nave. The space between the buttresses on the lower level is filled with collateral chapels. Thanks to the support of the buttresses, the upper walls of the nave are entirely filled with windows. The edges of the roof of the collateral aisles and of the nave are both lavishly decorated with balustrades and pinnacles. balancing the horizontal and vertical elements.

North transept

File:Médaillons portail Libraires.jpg, Sculpted medallions in the embrasures of the Portail des Librairies (north side) File:Rouen, Cathédrale Notre-Dame 06.jpg, The Portail des Librairies (north side) File:Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen - panoramio - mayatomo (7).jpg, Portail des Librairies File:ND de Rouen St Romain Portail des Libraires.jpg, Column-statue of Saint Romain in the portal Two portals, on the north and the south, very lavishly decorated, give access to the transept, at the meeting point between the nave and the choir. On the north is the portail des librairies, and to the south the portail de la Calende. The north portal is similar in its plan to the north transept portal of

Notre-Dame-de-Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

, built a few years earlier; the decoration of the portals spills over into the adjacent sections. Each portal has a column-statue between the doors, and is topped by a tympanum full of sculpture, and above that an arched voussure filled with three bands of statues. Above this a lace-like pointed gable, which rises upward in front of the windows of the claire-voie gallery as far as the rose window. A similar sculpted gable is placed over the rose window, just below the triangular gable of the transept roof. The embrasures of the doorway ae also filled with delicate sculptural medallions.

South transept

File:Rouen (38620946921).jpg, Details of the medallions around the portal- Book of Genesis and fantastic creatures File:Cathédrale de Rouen 2012 - panoramio.jpg, South transept - Portal of La Calende File:Tympan du portail de la Calende.JPG, The tympanum of the Portal of La Calende - the life of Christ File:Voussure et sculptures Portail Calende.jpg, Detail of the voussures and the buttress The front of the south transept and the portal of La Calende are even more packed with sculpture and decoration. The scenes in the tympanum over the portal illustrate the life of Christ, while the contreforts on either side of the portals contain niches filled with angels and prophets The quadrille medallions around of the portal illustrate the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...

and are filled with an array of fantastic animals. Scenes of the Last Judgement fill the space over the tympanum. At the very top, over the rose window, is another gable filled with sculpture of the crowning of the Virgin Mary.

Chevet

The dominant feature of the Chevet, or east end of the Cathedral beyond the choir, is the chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which extends well east of the choir and apse. It has very high buttresses, topped by pinnacles containing statues, and high lancet windows topped by gables, which are topped with statues. Above all these is the 'Golden Virgin", a gilded statue of The Virgin Mary made by Nicolas Quesnel in 1541. Smaller chapels, accessed by the disambulatory, are fit between the buttresses north and south of the Virgin Mary Chapel. In addition, the

Sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

and the Revestiaire are attached to the south side of chevet. File:Руан. Собор.jpg, The Chevet, or east end of the cathedral, topped with a gilded statue of the Virgin Mary.

Interior

Plan

File:Plan.cathedrale.Rouen-01.png, Plan of the cathedral (west front and nave to left, transept, choir and apse and Virgin Mary Chapel to right) File:Notre-Dame de Rouen, Nave 20140521 1.jpg, The interior, looking from west to east toward the choir

Nave and collateral aisles

File:Rouen Cathédrale Primatiale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption Innen Langhaus West 2.jpg, The nave, looking toward the west front File:Détail de la nef de la cathédrale.JPG, Elevation of the nave File:Rouen Cathédrale Primatiale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption Innen Seitenschiff Süd.jpg, The south collateral aisle The nave is the portion of the cathedral where the churchgoers are seated, extending from the west front to the transept and choir. It is covered with four-part rib vaults, supported by colonettes with reach down the walls to the massive pillars on the ground floor. The first four traverses of the nave, on the west, completed by 1200, followed the original elevation plan of the late 13th century; an arcade of pillars on the ground floor, which opened into the collateral aisles; above that a tribune, or wide passageway; above that the triforium, a narrow passageway; and above that the clerestory, the high windows which reached up into the arches of the vaults. All these levels provided the necessary width to support the upper walls. After the fire of 1200, the master builder Jean d'Andeli began to revise the plans, following the design used in High Gothic cathedrals, which had only three levels. He made a compromise; he preserved the tribunes but he installed a narrow coursiere or passageway atop the arches of the tribune, which wound around the pillars. He then made the arches of the tribune wider and taller, allowing more light from the windows of the collateral aisles to enter the nave. These modifications were possible thanks to another new technology, the

flying buttress The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey lateral forces to the ground that are necessary to pu ...

, which reaches over the collateral aisles provide to the upper nave walls, allowing them to be thinner and the windows to be larger. The collateral aisles at Rouen are fourteen metres high compared with twenty-eight metres high vault in the nave. The high clerestory windows of the central nave look out over the roofs of the collateral aisles, and bring more light to the interior.

Transept

File:Revers portail des Libraires - transept, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Interior wall of the north transept, with rose window File:Ruen (20).JPG, the interior of the lantern tower over the transept File:Rouen Cathédrale Primatiale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption Innen Querschiff Süd 2.jpg, Interior of the south transept, with rose window File:Escalier des Libraires, Notre-Dame de Rouen-8558.jpg, 15th-century stairway to the medieval library, in the northwest corner of the transept The transept is unusually large and brightly lit thanks to the large rose windows on the north and south and the large windows below them in the triforium of each transept. Overhead, the interior of the lantern tower is visible. The walls of the inside of the north and south facades are richly decorated with tracery, composed of pointed stone arches and sculpture in niches and in the small quadrille panels of the south transept. In the northwest corner is a stairway from 1471 which gave access to the cathedral library. It was updated with Neo-Gothic landings in the 18th century.

Choir

File:Rouen Cathédrale Primatiale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption Innen Chor 2.jpg, The Choir, with the altar in the foreground File:Rouen Cathédrale Primatiale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption Innen Chor Hauptaltar 1.jpg, The High Altar, with 18th-century statue of Christ and kneeling angels The Choir is the section of the cathedral at the east which was reserved for the clergy, and in the Middle Ages was separated from the nave by an elaborate screen. It was constructed slightly later than the nave, in the middle of the 13th century, and the style is more unified than in the nave. The beginning of the choir is marked by the retable of the main altar, and the throne of the Archbishop. Beyond that to the east are the stalls where the members of the clergy were seated. The elevation of the Choir is different from that of the nave, being more in the

High Gothic High Gothic is a particularly refined and imposing style of Gothic architecture that appeared in northern France from about 1195 until 1250. Notable examples include Chartres Cathedral, Reims Cathedral, Amiens Cathedral, Beauvais Cathedral, and ...

style of the 13th century, with three levels. The pillars of the arcade are circular, crowned with capitals decorated with stylised foliage and crochets. Above the arcade is the triforium, or enclosed gallery, and above that the high windows, which form a half-circle. The center of the Choir was substantially refurbished before the 1956 re-opening to repair damage suffered during the war. The high altar was added, topped by an 18th-century Rococo statue of Christ made of gilded lead made by

, which had previously been part of the 18th-century altar screen, as well as two kneeling angels, made by Caffieri in 1766, and previously in the Church of Saint-Vincent de Rouen, which was destroyed in 1944. The Choir also received modern screens by 20th-century artist Raymond Subes, a new episcopal throne, and a modern communion table and pulpit made of cast iron and gilded copper.[

Choir stalls

File:Stalles de la cathédrale de Rouen 3.jpg, The choir stalls (15th c.) File:Miséricorde de la cathédrale de Rouen 2.jpg, Detail of a misericorde on a choir stall- a money-changer The Choir stalls were put in place between 1457 and 1470 by the master woodworker Philipott Viart. A majority of the original seats are still in place, along with the carved decorations, called Miséricordes, illustrating scenes from the Bible, as well as proverbs, fables and craftsmen at work. Unfortunately, the upper portions of the stalls were destroyed during the Revolution.

Tombs of the Dukes of Normandy

File:Effigy of Rollo of Normandy, Notre-Dame de Rouen-8542.jpg, Tomb of

, first Duke of Normandy (died 930) File:Richard1Rouen.jpg, Tomb with the heart of

Richard the Lion-Hearted Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ...

(died 1199) The remains of four Dukes of Normandy are placed in the simple tombs with their images on either side of the choir. These are the tombs of

, a

and the first Duke of Normandy;

William Longsword William Longsword (french: Guillaume Longue-Épée, nrf, Willâome de lon Espee, la, Willermus Longa Spata, on, Vilhjálmr Langaspjót; c. 893 – 17 December 942) was the second ruler of Normandy, from 927 until his assassination in 942.Det ...

, the son of Rollo (died 942);

Henry the Young King Henry the Young King (28 February 1155 – 11 June 1183) was the eldest son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine to survive childhood. Beginning in 1170, he was titular King of England, Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and Mai ...

(died 1183); and a tomb with the heart of

, Duke of Normandy and King of England (died 1199). The original tomb of Rollo was destroyed during the bombing of 1944, and was replaced by a copy of the tomb of Henry the Young King made in the 19th century. The remains of Rollo and his son William Longsword were transferred from the first cathedral to the Romanesque cathedral in 1063, shortly after it was built, then to the Gothic cathedral when it was completed.

Collateral Chapels

File:Détail statue «Notre-Dame du Voeu» - chapelle Sainte-Marguerite, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Statue ''Notre-Dame du Vœu'' by Félix Lecomte (1777) in the Chapel Sainte-Marguerite (south side) File:Statue Sainte-Cécile - chapelle Saint-Nicolas, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Statue of Saint Cecile by

(1777) in the Chapel Saint-Nicolas (north side) File:Autel et retable - chapelle Saint-Etienne-de-la-Grande-Eglise, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Altar and retable in Chapel of Saint-Etienne-de-la-Grande- Eglise File:Détail 2 - chapelle Sainte-Catherine, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Painted wood panels depicting the life of

Saint Brice Saint Brice of Tours ( la, Brictius; 370 444 AD) was a 5th-century Frankish bishop, the fourth Bishop of Tours, succeeding Martin of Tours in 397. Background Brice was a contemporary of Augustine of Hippo and lived in the time of the Council ...

in the Chapel of Sainte-Catherine (17th c.) File:Autel et antependium - chapelle Sainte-Catherine, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Altar and antependium of the Chapel of Sainte-Catherine File:Retable de la chapelle Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul.jpg, Retable in Chapel of Saint Peter and Saint Paul File:Retable - chapelle des Fonts, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Retable in the Chapelle des Fonts (17th c.) Eighteen small chapels are placed between the buttresses on the north and south sides of the nave. They are filled with art, sculpture and stained glass given by wealthy donors and the guilds of the city. Some of the chapels are very plain, while others are adorned with paintings and sculptures from the 17th and 18th centuries. The Chapel of Sainte-Catherine is distinguished by its highly ornate lambris with painted panels of the life of Saint Brice. The bombardment of the Catedral in 1944 destroyed the other five chapels on the south side of the nave; only the Chapel of Sainte-Catherine survived intact.

Apse – The Chapel of the Virgin

At the east end of the cathedral is the Chapel of the Virgin, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was constructed by master builder Jean Davi beginning in 1302, when the adoration of the Virgin began to play a larger role in Christian theology, and replaced a more modest earlier chapel. Following the style of the 14th century, the windows fill the entire upper portion of the walls, while the lower walls are covered with elaborate tracery and sculpture. Traces of gilding and pigment on the walls show that the chapel was originally brightly colored. The central feature of the chapel is an enormous altar, made in the 17th century, framing a painting of the Virgin surrounded by carved and sculptural decoration. The chapel also contains the tomb of Cardinal

, the principal patron of the Gothic cathedral, and his nephew and successor, Cardinal Georges II d'Amboise. It is placed against the south wall. The nephew, Georges II, moved the statue of his uncle to the side of the tomb and placed his own in the central position. The baldaquin or upper portion of the tomb is lavishly decorated with sculpture of the Apostles, in pairs, separated by

Sibyls The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local tradi ...

and Biblical kings. The top of the tomb is ornamented with sculpted candelabra and tempietti. or miniature classical temples. The other monumental tomb in the chapel is that of Louis and Pierre de Brézé, made between 1536 and 1541 in a purely Renaissance style. Louis, who died in 1531, was the grandson of Pierre, and was Senechal and Governor of Normandy. His wife was

Diane de Poitiers Diane de Poitiers (9 January 1500 – 25 April 1566) was a French noblewoman and prominent courtier. She wielded much power and influence as King Henry II's royal mistress and adviser until his death. Her position increased her wealth and famil ...

, who was the mistress of King

Henri II of France Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder broth ...

; it was she who commissioned the tomb. Its main elements are a triumphal arch, under which Louis, in armor and on horseback, is passing in triumph. He appears again at the bottom as a corpse, almost nude. Diane is depicted next to his corpse, kneeling. The tomb is attributed to the prominent French Renaissance sculptor

Jean Goujon Jean Goujon (c. 1510 – c. 1565)Thirion, Jacques (1996). "Goujon, Jean" in ''The Dictionary of Art'', edited by Jane Turner; vol. 13, pp. 225–227. London: Macmillan. Reprinted 1998 with minor corrections: . was a French Renaissance sculpt ...

, who was active during this period as a sculptor to Henri II. File:Mausolée des cardinaux d'Amboise.jpg, Tomb of the two Cardinals d'Amboise File:Chapelle de la Vierge, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen-8548.jpg, The Chapel of the Virgin File:Tombeau de Louis de Brézé.jpg, Tomb of Louis and Pierre de Brézé File:Diane de Poitiers 1.jpg, Diane de Poitier, kneeling by the corpse of husband, Louis de Brézé

Stained glass

A considerable portion of the original stained glass from the 13th century is still in place. It dates from about the same time as the early windows of

Chartres Cathedral Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Roman Catholic church in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres. Mostly con ...

and Bourges Cathedral. There are five bays with windows of early glass found in the collateral chapels of the north nave. The early windows are composed of series of medallions arranged in rows. Each medallion is made of small pieces of thick glass, deeply colored, particularly in reds and blues, bound together like mosaics with thin strips of lead.

13th-century windows

File:Baie 10 - Vitrail de la Passion 3 - déambulatoire, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Window of the Passion, disambulatory, Bay 10 (13th c.) (multiple-click to see details) File:Baie 10 - Vitrail de la Passion 4 - déambulatoire, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Scene from the Window of the Passion- the Last Supper (Bay 10, 13th century) File:Baie 10 - Vitrail de la Passion 2 - déambulatoire, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Detail of the Window of the Passion; a butcher, sponsors of the window, at work (13th c.) File:Baie 9 - Vitrail de Saint-Joseph 3 - déambulatoire, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Window of Saint Joseph, Bay 9. (13th c.) The glass is signed by the artist on the band in front of the Saint: "Clement- glassmaker of Chartres" File:Baie 51 - détail 1 - chapelle Saint-Sever, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Saint Severus,Chapel of Saint Severus, Bay 51 (13th century) The collateral chapels on the north side of the nave have some of the oldest existing windows. Some of these windows were funded by the guilds of craftsmen, and depict them at their work. Unusually, some of the windows, such as the Window of saint Joseph, are signed by the glass artist; the band in front of the Saint reads: "Clement, glassmaker of Chartres".

The "Belles Verrieres"

File:Baie 23 - Vitrail de Saint-Julien-l'Hospitalier 5 - déambulatoire, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Window of Saint-Julien l'Hospitalier, Bay 23, disambulatory (13th century) File:Baie 23 - Vitrail de Saint-Julien-l'Hospitalier 2 - déambulatoire, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Window of Saint-Julien-L'Hospitalier, depicting fish-merchants, the sponsor of the window (Bay 23) File:Baie 53 - détail 7 - chapelle Saint-Jean-de-la-Nef, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Craftsmen planning and building Rouen Cathedral, Chapel of Saint-Jean-de-la-Nef (13th c.) (Bay 53) The "Belles Verrieres" are a group of windows located in the collateral chapels on the north side of nave and in the transept, containing some of the earliest stained glass in the cathedral. They are composed of early 13th century glass that was moved in the 15th century from its original locations in the south collateral chapels and reinstalled into new windows in the Chapel Saint-Jean, Chapel Saint-Severus, the Chapel of the Saint-Sacrament, and the Chapel of Saint-Pierre-and-Saint-Paul. The window in Bay 53 of the Chapel of Saint-Joseph-de-la-nef shows some of the craftsmen planning and building Rouen cathedral.

14th–15th century windows

File:Baie 5 cathédrale Rouen Ansbert.JPG, Saint Ansbert, (Bay 5 -14th c.) File:Baie 32 - détail 1 - croisillon sud, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Detail of Bay 32, in the South Transept (14th c.) File:Baie 36 - détail 4 - croisillon sud, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Detail of Pentecost window, Bay 36, South transept (mid-14th century) File:Baie 53 - détail 11 - chapelle Saint-Jean-de-la-Nef, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Detail of "Holy Saints at the Tomb" by Guillaume Barbe, Bay 53 Chapel of Saint-Jean-de-la-Nef (15th c.) File:Baie 44 - détail 4 - chapelle Sainte-Catherine, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Bay 44, Chapel of St. Catherine The windows of the 14th century began to look considerably different than the earlier windows. Glass artists had begun using techniques of

silver stain In pathology, silver staining is the use of silver to selectively alter the appearance of a target in microscopy of histological sections; in temperature gradient gel electrophoresis; and in polyacrylamide gels. In traditional stained glass, silv ...

and enamel paints baked on the glass to add greater detail and realism to the images. The windows looked less like mosaics, and increasingly resembled paintings, with the use of perspective and shading to suggest three dimensions. Fourteenth-century windows often depicted the subjects, usually saints and bishops, in architectural settings, surrounded and crowned by elaborate canopies and arches, to match the architecture of the cathedral. They also made greater use of

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...

, or a greyish or white glass, which surrounded and set off the figures and also brought increased light into the cathedral. One example from the mid-14th century is the Pentecost window in Bay 36, with an edge of grisaille bordered by angel musicians.

Rose windows (15th c.)

File:Baie 121 - détail 6 - rose des Libraires, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Rose window of the portal of libraries, north transept (15th c.) File:Baie 121 - détail 8 - rose des Libraires, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Detail of the rose of the portal of libraries (15th c.) The rose window of the north portal is the only large rose window to survive in its original form. It was made by Guillaume Nouel at the end of the 14th century, and depicts Christ surrounded by the evangelists, bishops, kings and martyrs.

Renaissance windows (16th century)

File:Baie 28 - chapelle Saint-Joseph, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, 16th-century window in the Chapel of Saint-Joseph File:Baie 28 - détail 4 - chapelle Saint-Joseph, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Detail of the Chapel of Saint-Joseph window File:Baie 28 - détail 7 - chapelle Saint-Joseph, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Archbishop Saint-Romain of Rouen slays the Gargoyle (Bay 28) The windows of the 16th century most fully display the influence of the Renaissance, with greater realism and closer resemblance to paintings. A good example is the window in the Chapel of Saint-Joseph, in the south transept. While it is full of activity and detail, it lacks some of the depth and richness of color given by the thick, densely-coloured glass of the 13th-century windows. Other major 16th-century works are two windows of the Saint-Romain chapel, the south part of the nave next to the transept. These are based on the work of the Rouen painter Arnoult de Nimegue or his followers. They depict scenes from the life of the archbishop Romaine, best known in Rouen legends for ridding the city of a monster called "The Gargoyle".

Modern windows (20th century)

File:Baie 50 - chapelle Saint-Léonard, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Chapel of St. Leonard, Bay 50 (20th century) File:Baie 50 - détail 5 - chapelle Saint-Léonard, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Detail of window in Chapel of Saint-Léonard - Noah's ark (20th century) File:Baie 50 - détail 7 - chapelle Saint-Léonard, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Detail of window in Chapel of Saint-Léonard - a modern angel (20th century) File:Baie 22 - détail 1 - chapelle Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Detail of Chapel of Saint-Joan-of-Arc window, south transept 20th century) File:Baie 26 - chapelle Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Joan of Arc window, Bay 26, Chapel of Saint-Joan-of-Arc (20th c.) The Cathedral has a number of modern windows created in the 1950s to replace windows which were destroyed in the bombardments of the Second World War. They resemble, in their colors and the density of their imagery, the earlier medieval and Renaissance windows. One example is found in the Chapel of St. Leonard, Bay 50. Other striking examples are the three Joan of Arc windows in the Chapel of Joan-of-Arc in the South transept, bays 22, 24 and 26. These were made in 1955–56.

Bells

The cathedral has seventy bells made by the

Fonderie Paccard Fonderie Paccard is a French foundry in Annecy. Founded in 1796, the foundry has cast more than 120,000 bells located throughout the world. The foundry has been continuously operated by seven generations of the Paccard family. The largest bell c ...

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

. There are sixty-four in the Saint-Romain Tower and six in the Butter Tower. Together they are the heaviest "peal" or group of bells in France, with a combined weight of thirty-six tons.

Grand Organ

File:Rouen France Cathédrale-Notre-Dame-de-Rouen-04.jpg, The grand organ, inside the west front File:Fleur de lys + symboles grand orgue cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Decoration of the grand organ File:Personnage sculpté grand orgue cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Sculpture on the grand organ File:Angelot grand orgue cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Cherub on the organ pipe The cathedral had an organ since the 1380s. A larger new organ was constructed beginning in 1488, and placed at the beginning of the nave, on the inside of the west front under the rose window. This organ was damaged in the hurricane of 1683, but was put back into service. Prominent organists included

Jean Titelouze Jean (''Jehan'') Titelouze (c. 1562/63 – 24 October 1633) was a French Catholic priest, composer, poet and organist of the early Baroque period. He was a canon and organist at Rouen Cathedral. His style was firmly rooted in the Renaissance vo ...

from 1588 until 1634, and Jacques Boyvin from 1674 until 1706. A smaller organ had been installed in the choir in 1517, in the center of the Choir screen, removed during the Renaissance. New organs were built by Merklin & Schütze (1858–60) and, after World War II, by Jacquot-Lavergne.

Treasury

File:Châsse des Saints-Pontifes - trésor, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, The Châsse des Saints-Pontiffs (19th c.) File:Détail 2 châsse des Saints-Pontifes - trésor, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, Detail of The Châsse des Saints-Pontiffs File:Cappa Magna détail - trésor, cathédrale de Rouen.jpg, The Capa Magna of the Archbishop The treasury of the Cathedral was originally in the Sacristy, and then was moved to its own tower on the Alban Courtyard, on the north side of the cathedral. It was twice pillaged; first by the Protestants in 1562, then during the French Revolution in 1791. Most of the original objects were lost, with the exception of the Chasse de Saint-Roman, but in the 19th century, a new collection was assembled, acquired from monasteries, churches and private collections. Notable objects include the Châsse de Saint Roman, a miniature cathedral made of gilded copper, with figures of Christ and the Apostles (late 13th century); the Châsse de Notre Dame, a mini-cathedral of gilded bronze and enamel, devoted to the Virgin Mary (19th century); A 15th-century monstrance, an elaborate miniature tower embracing a crystal cylinder used to hold the host during the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

ceremony; and the Ostentoire of Two Crowns (1777), a similar vessel for the host, decorated with a gilded crown and rays of light. The treasury also displays some of the elaborate ceremonial costumes worn by the Archbishops.

Crypt

File:Crypte rectangulaire cathédrale ND Rouen 2.jpg, The crypt of the Cathedral File:Crypte rectangulaire cathédrale ND Rouen 5.jpg, The crypt, with fragments of Romanesque columns The 11th-century crypt of the original Romanesque cathedral is located underneath the choir Gothic cathedral. It is accessed through the Chapel of Saint Joan of Arc on the south side of the Choir. It was excavated between 1931 and 1934, and opened to visitors in 1956. It was within the foundation of the old cathedral, and is composed of a sanctuary and a curving disambulatory with three small chapels, with vaults supported by two rows of columns. The original floor was made of a patter of made of light stone and black marble. There is well located in the disambulatory, beneath the axis of the apse above.

The Cathedral in art and literature

The most famous paintings of the cathedral were done by the

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

artist

, who produced a series of paintings of the building showing the same scene at different times of the day and in different weather conditions. Two paintings are in the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

; one is in the

Getty Center The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion center opened to the public on December 16, 1997 and is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views over ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

; one is in the

National Museum of Serbia The National Museum of Serbia ( sr, / ) is the largest and oldest museum in Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in the central zone of Belgrade on a square plot between the Republic Square, formerly Theatre Square, and three streets: Čika Ljubina ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

; one is at the

Clark Art Institute The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, commonly referred to as the Clark, is an art museum and research institution located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. Its collection consists of European and American paintings, sculp ...

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

; one is in a museum of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

; one is in the Rouen fine art museum; and five are in the

musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

in Paris. The estimated value of one painting is over $40 million. File:Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, Sunlight.JPG, ''West Facade, Sunlight'', 1892
(National Gallery of Art, Washington DC) File:RouenCathedral Monet 1894.jpg, ''Rouen Cathedral, Full Sunlight'', 1894
(Musée d'Orsay) File:Claude Monet 033.jpg, ''La Cathédrale de Rouen'', 1893
(Musée d'Orsay) File:Claude Monet - The Rouen Cathedral at Sunset - Pushkin museum.jpg, ''Cathedral at Sunset''
(Pushkin Museum) File:Claude Monet (French - The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Morning Light'', 1894
(Getty Center) Other painters inspired by the building included

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...

, who selected it as an example of good architecture in ''

The Seven Lamps of Architecture ''The Seven Lamps of Architecture'' is an extended essay, first published in May 1849 and written by the English art critic and theorist John Ruskin. The 'lamps' of the title are Ruskin's principles of architecture, which he later enlarged upon i ...

'', and

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. Hi ...

, who produced a series of pictures representing the cathedral's front. Mae Babitz, known for illustrations of the Watts Towers and Victorian-era buildings in Los Angeles, illustrated the Cathedral in the 1960s. Those works are held in the

UCLA library The library system of the University of California, Los Angeles, is one of the largest academic research libraries in North America, with a collection of over twelve million books and 100,000 serials. The UCLA Library System is spread over 12 libr ...

Special Collections. In literature,

was inspired by the stained glass windows of St. Julian and the

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

of Salome, and based two of his '' Three Tales'' on them.

Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel ''À rebou ...

wrote '' La Cathédrale'', a novel based on an intensive examination of the building.

Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including ''O Pioneers!'', '' The Song of the Lark'', and ''My Ántonia''. In 1923, ...

sets a key scene in the development of the protagonist Claude Wheeler of ''

One of Ours ''One of Ours'' is a 1922 novel by Willa Cather that won the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel. It tells the story of the life of Claude Wheeler, a Nebraska native in the first decades of the 20th century. The son of a successful farmer and an in ...

'' in the cathedral.

Burials

The Cathedral houses a tomb containing the heart of

Richard the Lionheart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

. His bowels were probably buried within the church of the Château of Châlus-Chabrol in the Limousin. It was from the walls of the Château of Châlus-Chabrol that the crossbow bolt was fired, which led to his death once the wound became septic. His corporeal remains were buried next to his father at

Fontevraud Abbey The Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud or Fontevrault (in French: ''abbaye de Fontevraud'') was a monastery in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in the former French duchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preache ...

near

Chinon Chinon () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. The traditional province around Chinon, Touraine, became a favorite resort of French kings and their nobles beginning in the late 15th and early 16th centuri ...

and

Saumur Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur statio ...

. Richard's effigy is on top of the tomb, and his name is inscribed in Latin on the side. The Cathedral also contains the tomb of

(''Hrólfr, Rou(f)'' or ''Robert''), one of Richard's ancestors, the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy. The cathedral contained the black marble tomb of John Plantagenet or John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, one of the English commanders who oversaw

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

's trial. His original tomb was destroyed by the

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

s in the 16th century but there remains a commemorative plaque. Other burials include: *

Maurilius Maurilius (–1067) was a Norman Archbishop of Rouen from 1055 to 1067. Maurilius was originally from Reims, and was born about 1000. He trained as a priest at Liege and became a member of the cathedral chapter of Halberstadt.Douglas ''William ...

, a Norman Archbishop of Rouen (d. 1067) *''Poppa'', wife of

Rollo of Normandy Rollo ( nrf, Rou, ''Rolloun''; non, Hrólfr; french: Rollon; died between 928 and 933) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, today a region in northern France. He emerged as the outstanding warrior among the Norsemen who had se ...

and mother of Duke William I *

William I, Duke of Normandy William Longsword (french: Guillaume Longue-Épée, nrf, Willâome de lon Espee, la, Willermus Longa Spata, on, Vilhjálmr Langaspjót; c. 893 – 17 December 942) was the second ruler of Normandy, from 927 until his assassination in 942.Det ...

(also known as William Longsword) *

Hugh of Amiens Hugh of Amiens (died 1164), also known as Hugh de Boves, monk of Cluny Abbey, Cluny, prior of Limoges, prior of Lewes, abbot of Reading and archbishop of Rouen, was a 12th-century Picard-French Benedictine prelate. Early career Hugh was born ...

(d. 1164), first abbot of

Reading Abbey Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, m ...

and then archbishop of Rouen *

Matilda of England Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...

(also known as the

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...

) *

Walter de Coutances Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 1 ...

, medieval Anglo-Norman bishop of Lincoln and archbishop of Rouen (d. 1207) *

William FitzEmpress William FitzEmpress (22 July 1136 – 30 January 1164) or William Longespee was the youngest of the three sons of Empress Matilda and Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. His brothers were Henry II of England and Geoffrey, Count of Nantes. Early ...

Arthur I, Duke of Brittany Arthur I ( br, Arzhur 1añ; french: link=no, Arthur 1er de Bretagne) (29 March 1187 – presumably 1203) was 4th Earl of Richmond and Duke of Brittany between 1196 and 1203. He was the posthumous son of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, and Constan ...

, a rival claimant to King John for the throne of England, is remembered in Rouen as he was last heard of in

Rouen Castle Rouen Castle (''Château Bouvreuil'') was a fortified ducal and royal residence in the city of Rouen, capital of the duchy of Normandy, now in France. With the exception of the tower wrongly associated with Joan of Arc, which was restored by V ...

in 1203, aged sixteen. His fate and place of burial are unknown. *

Pierre de Brézé Pierre de Brézé (or de Brezé) ( 1410 – 16 July 1465) was a French soldier and courtier in the service of kings Charles VII and Louis XI. Early life Pierre de Brézé was born circa 1410. Career De Brézé rose to prominence during the Hu ...

Louis de Brézé, seigneur d'Anet Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

Gustave Maximilien Juste de Croÿ-Solre Gustave Maximilien Juste de Croÿ-Solre (12 September 1773 Château de l'Ermitage, near Condé-sur-l'Escaut, Nord (French department), Nord - 1 January 1844 Rouen) was a French Cardinal (catholicism), cardinal, Archbishop of Rouen, and a member o ...

, a French cardinal, Archbishop of Rouen, and a member of the House of Croy (d. 1844) * Pierre Petit de Julleville (d. 1947) *

Joseph-Marie Martin Joseph-Marie Martin (9 August 1891 – 21 January 1976) was a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Rouen from 1948 to 1971, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965. Biography Joseph-Marie-Eugene Martin ...

, a French Cardinal and Archbishop of Rouen (d. 1976)

Dimensions

References

Bibliography

* Aubert, Marcel (1926). "Rouen, la cathédrale", ''Congrès archéologique de France, LXXXIX (Rouen)'', 1926, 11–71. * * * * * * Heinzelmann, Dorothee (2003). ''Die Kathedrale Notre-Dame in Rouen – Untersuchungen zur Architektur der Normandie in früh- und hochgotischer Zeit''. Rhema-Verlag, Münster 2003,

External links

Les Cloches de la Cathédrale de Rouen

Official Website

Rouen Seine valley Tourist Board's website

{{Authority control Churches completed in 1876

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Roman Catholic cathedrals in France Former world's tallest buildings Burial sites of the House of Lancaster Burial sites of the House of Normandy Burial sites of the House of Plantagenet 1876 establishments in France