ROUEN

port city and capital of Seine-Maritime dpartement, Haute-Normandie region, northwestern France, northwest of Paris, on the Seine River. Known to the Romans as Rotomagus, the town 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 the city, and the town prospered until the Hundred Years' War (13371453), 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-March 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. The old city, on the right bank, surrounded by a natural amphitheatre of hills, has so many ancient buildings that it has been called the ville-muse (museum-town). Further north, beyond the hills and around the university at Saint-Aignan, residential areas were developing in the 1970s. The left-bank districts were almost completely destroyed in World War II but have been rebuilt and now extend for miles within the great northward loop of the river. Although situated 75 mi (120 km) inland, Rouen received seagoing vessels before World War II and was an outport (seaward terminal for deep-draft vessels) of Paris. Tonnage handled has declined considerably as traffic has utilized the harbour at Le Havre. Industrialization has replaced the port function. Largely rebuilt after World War II, the docks extend 12 mi (18 km) along the Seine, down to the neighbouring township of La Bouille. The proximity of Rouen to Paris and its port have made the city the centre of an expanding industrial zone. A traditional cotton trade centre, it also manufactures clothing; its paper mills provide much of the nation's newsprint. Other industries include chemical works and plants that manufacture mechanical equipment, automobiles, and aircraft parts. Despite its variety of architectural styles (from early Gothic to late Flamboyant) and its lack of symmetry, Rouen cathedral is considered one of the finest Gothic churches in France. Damaged during World War 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 (13th16th century), with a late 19th-century spire, is the highest church tower in France (495 ft ). The cathedral also has an 11th-century crypt, a 13th-century choir, and Renaissance tombs in the Lady Chapel. The adjoining Archbishop's Palace has a 15th-century facade, behind which stands the mainly 15th-century church of Saint-Maclou, a rich example of Flamboyant Gothic. The church of Saint-Ouen (mainly 12th15th centuries) has a striking interior and 14th-century windows. Famous secular buildings include the late Gothic Palais de Justice and the 16th-century Htel de Bourgtheroulde. The Gros-Horloge, a Renaissance gateway (1527) with an ancient clock, standing next to a 14th-century belfry, is in the centre of the city. The Fine Arts and Ceramics Museum includes a collection of 17th- and 18th-century French paintings and Rouen ceramics. Other museums are devoted to the 17th-century dramatic poet Pierre Corneille and to the 19th-century novelist Gustave Flaubert, who were born there. Pop. (1982) 100,696.