My European Adventure!: Trip to Rouen

Having to do some back tracking to get everyone caught on the last 8 days or so! Day 2 of Anna and Philippe's visit we did a road trip to the City of Rouen, population approx 600,000.

The highest Church Steeple in all of France.

Some facts about Rouen, France : Rouen, port city and capital of Seine-Maritime department, Haute-Normandie, northwest France, located on the Seine River. Known to the Romans as Rotomagus, the city first became important in the 3rd century ad, when Christianity was brought there by St. Mellon, who was its first bishop. Invaded by the Normans in 876, it became subject to the English crown after the Norman Conquest of England (1066). In 1204 the French captured Rouen, and the city prospered until the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453), when, in 1419, it was taken by Henry V of England. In 1430 St. Joan of Arc, the patron saint of France, was imprisoned at Rouen in a tower that still stands and now bears her name. Tried and condemned for heresy, she was burned at the stake by the English in the city on the Place du Vieux-Marché in May 1431. The city was recaptured by the French in 1449 and for the following century it was one of the main cultural centres of France. It suffered during the Wars of Religion (late 16th century), and more than half its population emigrated after 1685, when the revocation of the Edict of Nantes deprived French Protestants of their civil and religious liberties. The port and city then declined until the 19th century, when the textile trade brought it new prosperity. Rouen was occupied by the Germans during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War

Rouen cathedral is considered one of the finest Gothic churches in France. Damaged during WorldWar II, it has been admirably restored. The immense facade, covered with lacelike stonework, stands between two dissimilar towers, the left dating mostly from the 12th century, and the right from the 15th century. Its Tour de Beurre has a carillon of 55 bells. The central lantern tower (13th–16th century), with a late 19th-century spire, is the highest church tower in France (495 feet [151 metres]). The cathedral also has an 11th-century crypt, a 13th-century choir, and Renaissance tombs in the Lady Chapel.

Referred to as the "The Booksellers' Staircase, made of stone

South ambulatory with statues of saints

The Chapelle de la Vierge (Lady Chapel) in the apse is adorned with Renaissance tombs of the cardinals d'Amboise and the ambulatory and crypt contain the tombs of French royalty stretching as far back as Duke Rollo, who died in 933 AD. The most famous royal relic is the heart of Richard the Lion-Hearted of England (1157-99), entombed on the right side of the choir. The rest of him lies next to his father at Fontevraud Abbey.

Anna "posing"

We lite a candle and said a prayer.

Rouen is definitely filled with lots of great history and very, very old buildings. We saw plenty of interesting things during our walking tour.

The Gros Horloge is an astronomical clock dating back to the 16th century, though the movement is considerably older (1389). It is located in the Gros Horloge street