Rouen

Rouen (UK: /ˈruːɒ̃, ˈruːɒn/, US: /ruːˈɒ̃, ruːˈɒn/;[2][3] French: [ʁwɑ̃] (listen) or [ʁu.ɑ̃]) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the capital of the region of Normandy. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population of the metropolitan area (French: aire urbaine) is 666,035 (2017).[4] People from Rouen are known as Rouennais.

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

Rouen
Prefecture and commune
From top to bottom, from left to right: partial view of the city and the Seine from Côte Sainte-Catherine; the courthouse; Place du Vieux-Marché; rue du Gros-Horloge, at night; Rouen Cathedral; the National Museum of Education; sailboats during the 2019 edition of the Armada; the Gustave-Flaubert Bridge.
Coat of arms
Location of Rouen
Rouen
Rouen
Coordinates: 49°26′34″N 01°05′19″E
CountryFrance
RegionNormandy
DepartmentSeine-Maritime
ArrondissementRouen
Canton3 cantons
IntercommunalityMétropole Rouen Normandie
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol (PS)
Area
1
21.38 km2 (8.25 sq mi)
 • Urban
 (2017)
461.1 km2 (178.0 sq mi)
 • Metro
 (2017)
2,366.4 km2 (913.7 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
110,145
 • Rank37th in France
 • Density5,200/km2 (13,000/sq mi)
 • Urban
 (2017)
467,575
 • Urban density1,000/km2 (2,600/sq mi)
 • Metro
 (2017)
666,035
 • Metro density280/km2 (730/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
76540 /
Websitewww.rouen.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

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. From the 13th century onwards, the city experienced a remarkable economic boom, thanks in particular to the development of textile factories and river trade. Claimed by both the French and the English during the Hundred Years' War, it was on its soil that Joan of Arc was tried and burned alive on 30 May 1431. Severely damaged by the wave of bombing in 1944, it nevertheless regained its economic dynamism in the post-war period thanks to its industrial sites and its large seaport, which today is the fifth largest in France.

Endowed with a prestige inherited mainly from the medieval era and with a plural architectural heritage that its historical monuments highlight, Rouen is an important cultural capital. Several renowned establishments are located here, such as the Museum of Fine Arts - one of the most important in France - or the Le Secq des Tournelles museum. Famous are its half-timbered houses. Rouen's religious buildings are plentifull and justify its nickname "City of a hundred steeples". The famous cathedral of Rouen is one of the highest in the world and known in arts as the subject of a series of paintings by Claude Monet. Labeled City of Art and History in 2002, it is a candidate for the title of European Capital of Culture for 2028.

Seat of an archdiocese, it also hosts a court of appeal and a university. Every four to six years, Rouen becomes the showcase for a large gathering of sailing ships called "L'Armada"; this event makes the city an occasional capital of the maritime world.

Administration

Rouen and its metropolitan area of 70 suburban communes form the Métropole Rouen Normandie, 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
Main articles: History of Rouen and Timeline of Rouen

Rouen was founded by the Gaulish tribe of the Veliocasses, who controlled a large area in the lower Seine valley. They called it Ratumacos; the Romans called it Rotomagus. It was considered the second city of Gallia Lugdunensis after Lugdunum (Lyon) itself. Under the reorganization of Diocletian, Rouen was the chief city of the divided province Gallia Lugdunensis II and reached the apogee of its Roman development, with an amphitheatre and thermae of which foundations remain. In the 5th century, it became the seat of a bishopric and later a capital of Merovingian Neustria.

From their first incursion into the lower valley of the Seine in 841, the Normans overran Rouen. From 912, Rouen was the capital of the Duchy of Normandy and residence of the local dukes, until William the Conqueror moved his residence to Caen.[5] In 1150, Rouen received its founding charter which permitted self-government.

During the 12th century, Rouen was the site of a yeshiva known as La Maison Sublime. Discovered in 1976, it is now a museum.[6] At that time, about 6,000 Jews lived in the town, comprising about 20% of the population.

On 24 June 1204 King Philip II Augustus of France entered Rouen and definitively annexed Normandy to the French Kingdom. He demolished the Norman castle and replaced it with his own, the Château Bouvreuil, built on the site of the Gallo-Roman amphitheatre. A textile industry developed based on wool imported from England, for which the cities of Flanders and Brabant were constantly competitors, and finding its market in the Champagne fairs. Rouen also depended for its prosperity on the river traffic of the Seine, on which it enjoyed a monopoly that reached as far upstream as Paris.

In the 14th century urban strife threatened the city: in 1291, the mayor was assassinated and noble residences in the city were pillaged. Philip IV reimposed order and suppressed the city's charter and the lucrative monopoly on river traffic, but he was quite willing to allow the Rouennais to repurchase their old liberties in 1294. In 1306, he decided to expel the Jewish community of Rouen, then numbering some five or six thousand. In 1389, another urban revolt of the underclass occurred, the Harelle. It was suppressed with the withdrawal of Rouen's charter and river-traffic privileges once more.

During the Hundred Years' War, on 19 January 1419, Rouen surrendered to Henry V of England, who annexed Normandy once again to the Plantagenet domains. But Rouen did not go quietly: Alain Blanchard hanged English prisoners from the walls, for which he was summarily executed; Canon and Vicar General of Rouen Robert de Livet became a hero for excommunicating the English king, resulting in de Livet's imprisonment for five years in England. Joan of Arc, who supported a return to French rule, was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431 in this city, where most inhabitants supported the duke of Burgundy, the French king's enemy. The king of France, Charles VII, recaptured the town in 1449.

Rouen was staunchly Catholic during the French Wars of Religion, and underwent an unsuccessful five-month siege in 1591/2 by the Protestant King Henry IV of France and an English force commanded by the Earl of Essex. A brief account by an English participant has survived. See 'Memoirs of Robert Carey', (F.H.Mares (ed.), Oxford, 1972), pp. 18–21.

During the German occupation, the Kriegsmarine had its headquarters located in a chateau on what is now the Rouen Business School. The city was heavily damaged during World War II on D-day, and its famed cathedral was almost destroyed by Allied bombs.

Main sights
Left to right: St Ouen, Notre Dame, St Maclou

Rouen is known for its Rouen 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 14th century.[7] It is located in the Gros Horloge street.

Place Barthélémy with the church St Maclou, 360°-panorama 2019
(view as a 360° interactive panorama)

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,[8] 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)[9] is the modern church of St 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.[10]

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.

Rouen has its own palace of Rouen Opera House, whose formal name is Rouen Normandy Opera House – Theatre of Arts (in French: Opéra de Rouen Normandie – Théâtre des arts).

Climate

Rouen has an oceanic climate (Cfb in the Köppen climate classification).

Climate data for Rouen (URO), elevation: 151 m (495 ft), 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1968–present
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 14.7
(58.5)		 19.7
(67.5)		 22.3
(72.1)		 27.4
(81.3)		 30.0
(86.0)		 36.0
(96.8)		 41.3
(106.3)		 38.1
(100.6)		 33.0
(91.4)		 28.0
(82.4)		 20.3
(68.5)		 15.6
(60.1)		 41.3
(106.3)
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
(73.0)		 22.8
(73.0)		 19.5
(67.1)		 15.0
(59.0)		 9.9
(49.8)		 6.6
(43.9)		 14.4
(57.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 3.7
(38.7)		 4.2
(39.6)		 7.0
(44.6)		 9.2
(48.6)		 12.7
(54.9)		 15.5
(59.9)		 17.8
(64.0)		 17.8
(64.0)		 14.9
(58.8)		 11.4
(52.5)		 7.0
(44.6)		 4.2
(39.6)		 10.5
(50.9)
Average low °C (°F) 1.1
(34.0)		 1.1
(34.0)		 3.2
(37.8)		 4.7
(40.5)		 8.1
(46.6)		 10.7
(51.3)		 12.8
(55.0)		 12.8
(55.0)		 10.4
(50.7)		 7.8
(46.0)		 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
(28.0)		 1.1
(34.0)		 5.9
(42.6)		 5.0
(41.0)		 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
(3.00)		 60.4
(2.38)		 67.1
(2.64)		 59.2
(2.33)		 74.3
(2.93)		 63.7
(2.51)		 68.9
(2.71)		 65.1
(2.56)		 65.5
(2.58)		 83.5
(3.29)		 76.8
(3.02)		 90.9
(3.58)		 851.7
(33.53)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 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
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: Meteo France[11][12]
Source 2: Infoclimat.fr (relative humidity 1961–1990)[13]

Transport
Main article: Transport in Rouen

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.

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 Transdev.

Rouen has its own airport.

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).

Gros-Horloge
The tramway

Education

The main schools of higher education are the University of Rouen and NEOMA Business School (former École Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen), 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.[14] Every five years, the city hosts the large maritime exposition, L'Armada.[15]

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
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Rouen is twinned with:

Sculpture

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

Artist Arne Quinze

Inaugurated in 2010, the Rouen Impressionnée hosted the contemporary urban (re)development[21] installation sculpture 'Camille' by Belgian artist Arne Quinze. Quinze's use of interlocking systems in sculpture employ wood, concrete, paint and metal. The Quasi-Quinze[22] method of sculpture utilizes structural integrity and randomness as key elements for 'Camille'. Located on the Boieldieu Bridge in the center of Rouen, this intentional location was chosen by the artist[23] to magnify the historical separation of its city's citizens.

Fleurs d'eau, by Jean-Yves Lechevallier

Representations in 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.

Heraldry
Arms of Rouen
 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. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
  3. Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.
  4. "Comparateur de territoire". INSEE. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  5. Stratford, Jenny., and British Archaeological Association. Medieval Art, Architecture, and Archaeology at Rouen. Conference Transactions for the Year ... ; 1986. London]: British Archaeological Association, 1993.
  6. "Sauvons La Maison Sublime de l'oubli". La Maison Sublime de Rouen (in French). La Maison Sublime de Rouen. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  7. Miller, Derek (5 August 2017). "Normandy full of beauty and history". Delaware State News.
  8. ": : : Musées en Haute-Normandie :". Musees-haute-normandie.fr. Archived from the original on 16 November 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  9. "Rouen . visite-de-rouen.com . Place du Vieux Marché". Visite-de-rouen.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  10. fr:Église Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc de Rouen
  11. "Climatological Information for Rouen, France". Meteo France. 6 August 2019.
  12. "ROUEN–BOOS (76)" (PDF). Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1981–2010 et records (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  13. "Normes et records 1961–1990: Rouen-Boos (76) – altitude 151m" (in French). Infoclimat. Archived from the original on 3 March 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  14. Opéra de Rouen – Haute-Normandie official web site.
  15. Rouen – Armada website.
  16. "French Club Will Observe Bastile Day". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (sec. D, p. 10). 2 July 1964.
  17. "Sister Cities International (SCI)". Sister-cities.org. Archived from the original on 13 June 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  18. "Gdańsk Official Website: 'Miasta partnerskie'" (in Polish and English). gdansk.pl. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  19. "Hanover – Twin Towns" (in German). hanover.de/ Hannover.de – Offizielles Portal der Landeshauptstadt und der Region Hannover in Zusammenarbeit mit hier.de. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  20. "British towns twinned with French towns". Archant Community Media Ltd. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  21. de Smet, Aurelie (12 November 2013). "The role of temporary use in urban (re)development: examples from Brussels". Brussels Studies. La revue scientifique électronique pour les recherches sur Bruxelles / Het elektronisch wetenschappelijk tijdschrift voor onderzoek over Brussel / The e-journal for academic research on Brussels. doi:10.4000/brussels.1196. ISSN 2031-0293.
  22. Baerlecken, Daniel. "Judith Reitz/Daniel Baerlecken." Susanne Schindler/Axel Sowa/Ariane Wilson (eds.) Constructing Knowledge––Das Wissen der Architektur 50 (2009): 61.
  23. "Camille". Arne Quinze. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
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