Rouen

This article is about the capital of Normandy. For other uses, see Rouen (disambiguation).
Rouen

Top: View of Downtown Rouen and Seine River from Bois Bagneres Hill. Middle left: Twilightview of Archives department of Seine Maritime building. Centre: Night view of Gros-Horloge. Middle right: Pont Gustave-Flaubert (Gustave-Flaubert Bridge). Bottom: Night view of Rouen Notre-Dame Cathedral and Seine River.

Coat of arms
Rouen

Coordinates: 49°26′N 1°06′E / 49.44°N 1.10°E / 49.44; 1.10Coordinates: 49°26′N 1°06′E / 49.44°N 1.10°E / 49.44; 1.10
Country France
Region Normandy
Department Seine-Maritime
Arrondissement Rouen
Intercommunality Métropole Rouen Normandie
Government
 • Mayor (2012–2014) Yvon Robert (PS)
Area1 21.38 km2 (8.25 sq mi)
 • Urban 448 km2 (173 sq mi)
 • Metro (2010) 1,800 km2 (700 sq mi)
Population (2012)2 111,557
 • Rank 36th in France
 • Density 5,200/km2 (14,000/sq mi)
 • Urban (2010) 494,382
 • Urban density 1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi)
 • Metro (2010) 650,000
 • Metro density 360/km2 (940/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC +1)
INSEE/Postal code 76540 / 
Website www.rouen.fr

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Rouen (French pronunciation: ​[ʁwɑ̃]; Latin: Rotomagus) is a city on the River Seine in the north of France. It is the capital of the region of Normandy. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy during the Middle Ages. It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties, which ruled both England and large parts of modern France from the 11th to the 15th centuries.

The population of the metropolitan area (in French: agglomération) at the 2007 census was 532,559, with the city proper having an estimated population of 110,276. People from Rouen are known as Rouennais.

Administration

Rouen and its metropolitan area of 70 suburban communes form the Agglomeration community of Rouen-Elbeuf-Austreberthe (CREA), with 494,382 inhabitants at the 2010 census. In descending order of population, the largest of these suburbs are Sotteville-lès-Rouen, Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, Le Grand-Quevilly, Le Petit-Quevilly, and Mont-Saint-Aignan, each with a population exceeding 20,000.

History

Rouen was founded by the Gaulish tribe of Veliocasses, who controlled a large area in the lower Seine valley, which today retains a trace of their name as the Vexin. The Gauls named the settlement Ratumacos[1] and the Romans called it Rotomagus.[2] Roman Rotomagus was the second city of Gallia Lugdunensis, after Lugdunum (Lyon). After the reorganization of the empire by Diocletian, Rouen became the chief city of the divided province of Gallia Lugdunensis II and reached the peak of its Roman development, with an amphitheatre and thermae, whos foundations remain today. In the 5th century, it became the seat of a bishopric and later a capital of Merovingian Neustria.

The Middle Ages

After the first Viking incursion into the lower valley of the Seine in 841,[3] they went on to overrun Rouen, and some of them settled and founded a colony led by Rollo (Hrolfr), who was nominated to be count of Rouen by King Charles in 911. In the 10th century Rouen became the capital of the Duchy of Normandy and the residence of the dukes, until William the Conqueror established his castle at Caen.

During the early 12th century the city's population reached 30,000.[4] In 1150, Rouen received its founding charter, which permitted self-government. During the 12th century, Rouen was probably the site of a Jewish yeshiva. At that time, about 6,000 Jews lived in the town, comprising about 20% of the total population. The well-preserved remains of a medieval Jewish building, that could be a yeshiva, were discovered in the 1970s under the Rouen Law Courts.

City Hall and Church of St. Ouen, Rouen

In 1200, a fire destroyed part of Rouen's Romanesque cathedral, leaving just St Romain's tower, the side porches of its front, and part of the nave. New work on the present Gothic cathedral of Rouen began, in the nave, transept, choir, and the lowest section of the lantern tower. On 24 June 1204, Philip Augustus entered Rouen and annexed Normandy to the French Kingdom. The fall of Rouen meant the end of Normandy's sovereign status. He demolished the Norman castle and replaced it with his own, the Château Bouvreuil, built on the site of the Gallo-Roman amphitheatre.[5]

A textile industry developed based on wool imported from England, competing with the northern County of Flanders and the Duchy of Brabant. The city found its market niche in the Champagne fairs. Rouen also depended on the river traffic of the Seine for its prosperity. Wine and wheat were exported to England, with tin and wool received in return.

In the late 13th century urban strife threatened the city: in 1291, the mayor was assassinated and noble residences in the city were pillaged. Philip IV restored order and suppressed the city's charter and the city's lucrative monopoly on river traffic, but he was quite willing to allow the Rouennais to repurchase their former liberties in 1294. In 1306, he decided to expel the Jewish community of Rouen, which then numbered some five or six thousand in the city of 40,000 people.[6]

14th century timber framing, rue du Petit Mouton

In 1389, another urban revolt of the underclass broke out, the Harelle. It was part of a widespread rebellion in France that year and was suppressed with the withdrawal of Rouen's charter and river-traffic privileges once more.

For the royal entry of Henry II in Rouen, 1 October 1550.[7]
Rouen soft-paste porcelain was the first porcelain of France, dating from the end of the 17th century.

During the Hundred Years' War, on 19 January 1419, Rouen and its population of 70,000 surrendered[8] to Henry V of England, who annexed Normandy once again to the Plantagenet domains. But Rouen did not go quietly: Alain Blanchard hung English prisoners from the walls, for which he was summarily executed; the Canon and Vicar General of Rouen, Robert de Livet, became heroes for excommunicating the English king, which occurred shortly after de Livet's own five year imprisonment in England.

Rouen became the capital city of English power in occupied France and when the Duke of Bedford, John of Lancaster bought Joan of Arc her liberty from the Duke of Burgundy who had been keeping her in jail since May 1430, she was sent to be tried in the city during Christmas 1430. After a long trial by a church court, she was sentenced to be burned at the stake. The sentence was carried out on 30 May 1431 in the city, and most residents supported the Duke of Burgundy, Joan of Arc's royal enemy.

The king of France Charles VII recaptured the town in 1449, 18 years after the death of Joan of Arc and after 30 years of English occupation. In that same year the young Henry VI was crowned King of England and France in Paris before coming to Rouen where he was acclaimed by the crowds.

The Renaissance Period

The naval dockyards, where activity had been slowed by the 100 years war, became busy again as did the church of Saint-Maclou, which had been founded under English occupation The nave of the church of Saint Ouen was completed at last. The salle des pas-perdus (a sort of waiting room or ante-room) of the present law courts was built during this time. The whole building was built in a flamboyant style into which the first decorative elements typical of the Renaissance style right at the beginning of the 16th century had been incorporated.

At that time Rouen was the fourth most populous city in the realm, after Paris, Marseille and Lyon. Rouen was also one of the Norman cradles of artistic Renaissance, in particular the one under the patronage of the archbishops and financiers of the town.

The city's economic upturn at the end of the 15th century was mainly due to the emergance of the cloth industry, but also partly due to the development of the silk industry and metallurgy. The fishermen of Rouen went as far afield as the Baltic to fish for herrings. Salt was imported from Portugal and Guérande. Cloth was exported to Spain who also provided wool, and the Medici family made Rouen into the main port for the resale of Roman alum.

At the beginning of the 16th century Rouen became the main French port through which trade was conducted with Brazil, principally for the import of cloth dyes. By 1500 ten printing presses had been installed in the city following the installation of the first sixteen years earlier.

The Wars of Religion

In the years following 1530, part of the population of Rouen embraced Calvinism. The members of the Reformed Church represented a quarter to a third of the total population, a significant minority.

In 1550, King Henri II staged a triumphant entry into Rouen, modeled on the ancient Roman triumph and specifically designed to ape Pompey's third triumph of 61 BC at Rome: "No less pleasing and delectable than the third triumph of Pompey... magnificent in riches and abounding in the spoils of foreign nations".[9] It was not enough, however, to long sustain royal authority in the city.

From 1560 onwards tensions rose between the Protestant and Catholic communities, and the Massacre of Vassy triggered the first of the French Wars of Religion. On 15 April 1562 the Protestants entered the town hall and ejected the King's personal representative. In May there was an outbreak of Iconoclasm (statue smashing). On 10 May the Catholic members of the town council fled Rouen. The Catholics in turn captured the Fort of Saint Catherine which overlooked the town. Both sides resorted to terror tactics.

Overview of Rouen, 1572

At this juncture the Protestant town authorities requested help from Queen Elizabeth I of England. In accordance with the Hampton Court Treaty which they had signed with Condé on 20 September 1562, the English sent troops to support the Protestants. On 26 October 1562 French Royalist troops retook Rouen and pillaged it for three days.

The news of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day reached Rouen at the end of August 1572. Hennequier tried to avoid a massacre of the Protestants by shutting them up in various prisons. But between 17 and 20 September the crowds forced the gates of the prisons and murdered the Protestants that they found inside.

The town was attacked on several occasions by Henry IV, but it resisted, notably during the siege of December 1591 to May 1592, with the help of the Spanish army led by the Duke of Parma (see Siege of Rouen (1591)).

The Classical Age

The permanent exchequer of Normandy, which had been installed in Rouen in 1499 by George of Amboise, was transformed into a regional administrative assembly by Francis I in 1515 and up to the time of the Revolution was the administrative centre of the region. It had judicial, legislative and executive powers in Norman affairs and was only subordinate to the Privy Council. It also had power to govern French Canada. The 16th and the 18th centuries brought prosperity to the city through the textile trade and the increased use of port facilities. In 1703 the Norman Chamber of Commerce was formed. Although it did not have a university, Rouen became an important intellectual centre by reason of its reputed schools of higher learning. In 1734, a school of surgery (second only to that of Paris founded in 1724) was founded. In 1758 a new hospital was opened to the west of the town which replaced the old medieval one which had become too small.

The Modern Period

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, Rouen was occupied by the Prussians.

During the First World War the British used Rouen as a supply base and there were many military hospitals.

Rouen was heavily damaged during World War II - approximately 45% of the city was destroyed. In June 1940 the area between the Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Seine river burned for 48 hours as the Nazis did not allow firemen access to the fire. Other areas were destroyed between March and August 1944 just before and during the Battle of Normandy, which ended on the left bank of the Seine with the destruction of several regiments belonging to the German 7th Army. Rouen's cathedral and several significant monuments were damaged by Allied bombing. During the German occupation, Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine had its headquarters located in a château on what is now the Rouen Business School (École Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen). The city was liberated by the Canadians on 30 August 1944 after the breakout from Normandy.

Climate

Climate data for Rouen (1981–2010 averages)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 14.7
(58.5)		 18.9
(66)		 22.3
(72.1)		 26.4
(79.5)		 30.0
(86)		 34.2
(93.6)		 37.9
(100.2)		 38.1
(100.6)		 31.3
(88.3)		 28.0
(82.4)		 20.3
(68.5)		 15.6
(60.1)		 38.1
(100.6)
Average high °C (°F) 6.4
(43.5)		 7.3
(45.1)		 10.8
(51.4)		 13.7
(56.7)		 17.3
(63.1)		 20.3
(68.5)		 22.8
(73)		 22.8
(73)		 19.5
(67.1)		 15.0
(59)		 9.9
(49.8)		 6.6
(43.9)		 14.4
(57.9)
Average low °C (°F) 1.1
(34)		 1.1
(34)		 3.2
(37.8)		 4.7
(40.5)		 8.1
(46.6)		 10.7
(51.3)		 12.8
(55)		 12.8
(55)		 10.4
(50.7)		 7.8
(46)		 4.1
(39.4)		 1.7
(35.1)		 6.6
(43.9)
Record low °C (°F) −17.1
(1.2)		 −13.4
(7.9)		 −10.4
(13.3)		 −4.8
(23.4)		 −2.2
(28)		 1.1
(34)		 5.9
(42.6)		 5.0
(41)		 2.1
(35.8)		 −3.2
(26.2)		 −8.3
(17.1)		 −11.3
(11.7)		 −17.1
(1.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 76.3
(3.004)		 60.4
(2.378)		 67.1
(2.642)		 59.2
(2.331)		 74.3
(2.925)		 63.7
(2.508)		 68.9
(2.713)		 65.1
(2.563)		 65.5
(2.579)		 83.5
(3.287)		 76.8
(3.024)		 90.9
(3.579)		 851.7
(33.531)
Average precipitation days 13.0 10.3 11.9 10.7 11.8 9.5 9.4 9.0 9.7 12.4 13.0 13.0 133.6
Average snowy days 4.7 4.2 3.3 1.8 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.7 3.4 19.3
Average relative humidity (%) 90 86 83 78 79 80 79 80 84 89 90 91 84.1
Mean monthly sunshine hours 58.6 74.5 117.4 158.0 182.8 202.2 199.2 191.8 156.1 107.8 60.0 49.2 1,557.5
Source #1: Météo France[10][11]
Source #2: Infoclimat.fr (humidity and snowy days, 1961–1990)[12]

Main sights

Rouen Cathedral

Rouen is known for its Notre Dame cathedral, with its Tour de Beurre (butter tower) financed by the sale of indulgences for the consumption of butter during Lent. The cathedral's gothic façade (completed in the 16th century) was the subject of a series of paintings by Claude Monet, some of which are exhibited in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

The Gros Horloge is an astronomical clock dating back to the 16th century. It is located in the Gros Horloge street.

Other famous structures include Rouen Castle, whose keep is known as the tour Jeanne d'Arc, where Joan of Arc was brought in 1431 to be threatened with torture (contrary to popular belief, she was not imprisoned there but in the since destroyed tour de lady Pucelle); the Church of Saint Ouen (12th–15th century); the Palais de Justice, which was once the seat of the Parlement (French court of law) of Normandy; the Gothic Church of St Maclou (15th century); and the Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics which contains a splendid collection of faïence and porcelain for which Rouen was renowned during the 16th to 18th centuries. Rouen is also noted for its surviving half-timbered buildings.

There are many museums in Rouen: the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, an art museum with pictures of well-known painters such as Claude Monet and Géricault; the Musée maritime fluvial et portuaire, a museum on the history of the port of Rouen and navigation; Musée des antiquités,[13] an art and history museum with local works from the Bronze Age through the Renaissance, the Musée de la céramique and the Musée Le Secq des Tournelles.

The Jardin des Plantes de Rouen is a notable botanical garden once owned by Scottish banker John Law dated from 1840 in its present form. It was the site of Élisa Garnerin's parachute jump from a balloon in 1817.

In the centre of the Place du Vieux Marché (the site of Joan of Arc's pyre)[14] is the modern church of Saint Joan of Arc. This is a large, modern structure which dominates the square. The form of the building represents an upturned viking boat and a fish shape.[15]

Rouen was also home to the French Grand Prix, hosting the race at the nearby Rouen-Les-Essarts track sporadically between 1952 and 1968. In 1999 Rouen authorities demolished the grandstands and other remnants of Rouen's racing past. Today, little remains beyond the public roads that formed the circuit.

Archives department of Seine-Maritime

Transport

Main article: Transport in Rouen
The tramway

Mainline trains operate from Gare de Rouen-Rive-Droite to Le Havre and Paris, and regional trains to Caen, Dieppe and other local destinations in Normandy. Daily direct trains operate to Amiens and Lille, and direct TGVs (high-speed trains) connect daily with Lyon and Marseille.

Gros-Horloge

City transportation in Rouen consists of a tram and a bus system. The tramway branches into two lines out of a tunnel under the city centre. Rouen is also served by TEOR (Transport Est-Ouest Rouennais) and by buses run in conjunction with the tramway by TCAR (Transports en commun de l'agglomération rouennaise), a subsidiary of Veolia Transport.

Rouen has its own airport, serving major domestic destinations as well as international destinations in Europe.

The Seine is a major axis for maritime cargo links in the Port of Rouen. The Cross-Channel ferry ports of Caen, Le Havre, Dieppe (50 minutes) and Calais, and the Channel Tunnel are within easy driving distance (two and a half hours or less).

Education

The main schools of higher education are the University of Rouen and the École Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen (Rouen Business School), ésitpa (agronomy and agriculture), both located at nearby Mont-Saint-Aignan, and the INSA Rouen, ESIGELEC and the CESI, both at nearby Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray.

Performing arts

The main opera company in Rouen is the Opéra de Rouen - Normandie. The company performs in the Théâtre des Arts, 7 rue du Docteur Rambert. The company presents opera, classical and other types of music, both vocal and instrumental, as well as dance performances.[16]

L'Armada, one of the biggest events in Rouen

Every 5 years, millions of visitors come to visit Rouen for the prestigious event 'L'Armada'.[17] Along the quays of the port of Rouen, the finest and largest sailing ships, modern warships and many other outstanding ships (around 50) come from all around the world and sail up the river 'La Seine' towards Rouen. Visitors can also enjoy concerts, fireworks and plenty other entertainments, especially at night time.

Notable people

A class at the Lycée Pierre-Corneille, Rouen 1902, artists Robert Antoine Pinchon (second row, right) and Marcel Duchamp (third row, left)
L'Académie de Rouen c. 1935, Robert Antoine Pinchon, third row, right
Robert Antoine Pinchon, 1905–06, La foire Saint-Romain sur la place Saint-Vivien, Rouen, oil on canvas, 49 x 59.4 cm
The hanging committee at the Salon des Artistes Rouennais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, Robert Antoine Pinchon (center) 1934
Robert Antoine Pinchon, 1905, Le Pont aux Anglais, Rouen, oil on canvas, 38 × 46 cm, private collection
Salon des Artistes Rouennais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, c. 1930

Rouen was the birthplace of:

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Rouen is twinned with:

In fiction and popular culture

Fine art

Rouen Cathedral, Full Sunlight, by Claude Monet, 1894.

Rouen Cathedral is the subject of a series of paintings by the Impressionist painter Claude Monet, who painted the same scene at different times of the day. Two paintings are in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; two are in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow; one is in the National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade. The estimated value of one painting is over $40 million.

Sculpture

During the second half of the 20th century, several sculptures by Jean-Yves Lechevallier were erected in the city.

Fleurs d'eau, by Jean-Yves Lechevallier

Literature

The Rouen area is an integral part of the work of French writer Annie Ernaux.

Music

Film

The 2000 film The Taste of Others was filmed and set in Rouen. In the 2001 movie A Knight's Tale, the protagonist William Thatcher (played by Heath Ledger) poses as a noble and competes in his first jousting tournament at Rouen. The 1952 film "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" references the memoirs of Harry Street titled "The Road to Rouen" in the scene with Harry and Uncle Bill.

Video games

Heraldry

 The arms of Rouen are blazoned :
Gules, a pascal lamb, haloed and contorny, holding a banner argent charged with a cross Or, and on a chief azure, 3 fleurs de lys Or

This may be rendered, "On a red background a haloed white pascal lamb looking back over its shoulder (contorny) holds a white banner bearing a gold cross; above, a broad blue band across the top bears 3 gold fleurs de lis".
On the front of the "Grand Poste" (rue Jeanne d'Arc), the banner is charged with a leopard (the lion passant seen on Norman and English arms). This was the official seal of Rouen at the beginning of the 12th century, before Normandy was incorporated into Capetian France

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ratu- is not well explained; -macus, magus is a familiar toponymic suffix signifying "plain".
  2. ↑ As in Ammianus Marcellinus and the Notitia dignitatum; other variants: Ratomagos (Ptolemy, Geography), Ratomagos (Antonine Itinerary, Tabula Peutingeriana).
  3. ↑ Recorded in the chronicle of Fontenelle Abbey.
  4. ↑ Lane, M.Y. (2013). Approach the Throne:. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 378. ISBN 9781482705744. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  5. ↑ With the exception of the tower associated with Joan of Arc, which was restored by Viollet-le-Duc, the castle was destroyed at the end of the 15th century, its stones used for other buildings.
  6. ↑ Lodge, R.A. (1993). French: From Dialect to Standard. Routledge. p. 143. ISBN 9780415080712. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Bill Marshall, Cristina Johnston, France and the Americas: culture, politics, and history Volume 3, p. 185
  8. ↑ Hohenberg, P.M.; Lees, L.H. (2009). The Making of Urban Europe, 1000–1994. Harvard University Press. p. 10. ISBN 9780674038738. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  9. ↑ Beard, 31. See 32, Fig. 7 for a contemporary depiction of Henri's "Romanised" procession.
  10. ↑ "Données climatiques de la station de Rouen" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Climat Haute-Normandie" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Normes et records 1961-1990: Rouen-Boos (76) - altitude 151m" (in French). Infoclimat. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  13. ↑ ": : : Musées en Haute-Normandie : : :". Musees-haute-normandie.fr. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  14. ↑ "Rouen . visite-de-rouen.com . Place du Vieux Marché". Visite-de-rouen.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  15. ↑ fr:Église Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc de Rouen
  16. ↑ Opéra de Rouen - Haute-Normandie official web site.
  17. ↑ Rouen - Armada website.
  18. ↑ "Gdańsk Official Website: 'Miasta partnerskie'" (in Polish and English). 2009 Urząd Miejski w Gdańsku. Retrieved 11 July 2009. External link in |publisher= (help)
  19. ↑ "Sister Cities International (SCI)". Sister-cities.org. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  20. ↑ "Hanover – Twin Towns" (in German). 2007–2009 Hannover.de – Offizielles Portal der Landeshauptstadt und der Region Hannover in Zusammenarbeit mit hier.de. Retrieved 17 July 2009. External link in |publisher= (help)
  21. ↑ "British towns twinned with French towns". Archant Community Media Ltd. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  22. ↑ "The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux - Free Ebook". gutenberg.org. Retrieved 16 August 2015.

External links

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