Rouen

Name	Rouen
Image size	200px
Image coat of arms	Blason Rouen 76.svg
Latitude	49.441203
Longitude	1.096272
Time zone	CET (UTC +1)
Insee	76540
Region	Upper Normandy
Department	Seine-Maritime
Arrondissement	Rouen
Intercommunality	CREA
Mayor	Valérie Fourneyron
Party	PS
Term	2008 - 2014
Area km2	21.38
Population date	20067
Population	108569
Population ranking	36th in France
Urban area km2	448
Urban pop	494,382
Urban pop date	2010
Metro area km2	1582.51
Metro area date	1999
Metro area pop	518,316
Metro area pop date	1999
Website	www.rouen.fr

Rouen () is the historic capital city of Normandy, in northern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital of the Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) region. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in 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. It was in Rouen where Joan of Arc was burnt in 1431. People from Rouen are called Rouennais.

The population of the metropolitan area (in French: agglomération) at the 1999 census was 518,316 inhabitants and 532,559 inhabitants at the 2007 estimate. The city proper had an estimated population of 110,276 in 2007.

Administration

Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) région, as well as a commune and the préfecture (capital) of the Seine-Maritime département.

Rouen and 70 suburban communes of the metropolitan area form the Agglomeration community of Rouen-Elbeuf-Austreberthe (CREA), with 494,382 inhabitants in it 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 inhabitants.

History

Unknown to Julius Caesar, Rouen was founded by the Gaulish tribe of the Veliocasses, who controlled a large area in the lower Seine valley, which retains a trace of their name, as the Vexin. They called it Ratumacos; the Romans called it Rotomagus. Roman Rotomagus was 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 (though the names of early bishops are purely legendary) and later a capital of Merovingian Neustria.

From their first incursion into the lower valley of the Seine in 841, the Vikings overran Rouen until a part of them finally settled and founded a colony led by Rollo (Hrolfr), who was nominated count of Rouen by the king of the Franks in 911. In the 10th century Rouen became the capital of the Duchy of Normandy and residence of the dukes, until William the Conqueror established his castle at Caen.

In 1150, Rouen received its founding charter which permitted self-government. During the 12th century, Rouen was maybe the site of a yeshiva. At that time, about 6,000 Jews lived in the town, comprising about 20% of the population. In addition, there were a large number of Jews scattered about another 100 communities in Normandy. The well-preserved remains of the yeshiva were discovered in the 1970s under the Rouen Law Courts and the community has begun a project to restore them.

In 1200, a fire destroyed part of the old Romanesque cathedral, leaving Saint Romain's tower, the side porches of the front, and part of the nave. New works in the present Gothic cathedral of Rouen were begun, in the nave, transept, choir, and the lowest section of the lantern tower. On June 24, 1204, Philip II Augustus of France entered Rouen and definitively annexed Normandy to the French Kingdom. The fall of Rouen meant the end of independent Normandy. 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. Wine and wheat were exported to England, with tin and wool received in return. 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 thousands. In 1389, another urban revolt of the underclass occurred, the Harelle. It was part of widespread rebellion in France that year and was suppressed with the withdrawal of Rouen's charter and river-traffic privileges once more.

of Henry II in Rouen, 1 October 1550, 30 naked men were employed to illustrate life in Brazil and a battle between the Tupinamba allies of the French, and the Tabajares Indians.]] was the first porcelain of France, end of the 17th century.]] During the Hundred Years' War, on January 19, 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 hung 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. Rouen became the capital city of the English power in occupied France and when the duke of Bedford, John Plantagenet bought Joan of Arc from his allie, the duke of Burgundy who had been keeping her in jail since May 1430, she was logically sent to this city for Christmas 1430 and after a long trial by a church court, sentenced to be burned at the stake on May 30, 1431 in this city, where most inhabitants supported the duke of Burgundy, Joan of Arc's king enemy. The king of France Charles VII recaptured the town in 1449.

The city was heavily damaged (about 45% destructions) during World War II : first in June 1940, when the area between the Notre-Dame cathedral and the Seine river burnt for 48 hours and then, more areas were detroyed between March and August 1944 just before and during the Battle of Normandy and its famed cathedral was partly damaged by Allied bombs. During the German occupation, the German Navy had its headquarters located in a chateau on what is now the Rouen Business School (École Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen).

Main sights

Rouen is known for its Notre Dame cathedral, with its Tour de Beurre (butter tower). The cathedral 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) though the movement is considerably older (1389). It is located in the Gros Horloge street.

Other famous structures include the Gothic Church of Saint Maclou (15th century); 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); 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 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 noted for its surviving half-timbered buildings.

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

The Jardin des Plantes de Rouen is a notable botanical garden dating to 1840 in its present form. It was previously owned by Scottish banker John Law and was the site of several historic balloon ascents.

In the centre of the Place du Vieux Marché 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 the pyre on which Joan of Arc was burnt.

Rouen was also home to the French Grand Prix, hosting the race at the nearby Rouen-Les-Essarts track sporadically between 1952 and 1968. There was a campaign in 1999 by Rouen authorities to obliterate remainders of Rouen's racing past. Today, little remains beyond the public roads that formed the circuit.

Transport

Mainline train services operate from Gare de Rouen-Rive-Droite to Le Havre and Paris. Regional services operate 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 métro branches into two lines out of a metro tunnel running through the city centre. Rouen is also served by TEOR and buses run in conjunction with the tramway by the transit company 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; and the Cross-Channel ferry ports of Caen, Le Havre, Dieppe (50 minutes), and Calais, and the Channel Tunnel are also within easy driving distance (i.e. two and a half hours or less).

Education

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

Performing arts

The main opera company in Rouen is the Opéra de Rouen Haute 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.

Births

Rouen was the birthplace of:

Edward IV (1442–1483), king of England

Thomas Aubert (Born 1500's), navigator and one of the first French explorers of the New World

Guillaume Guéroult (1507–1569), editor, translator and poet

François de Civille (1537–1610), Calvinist's chief under Gabriel, comte de Montgomery

Isaac Oliver (c.1560-1617), French-born English portrait miniature painter

Guy de la Brosse (1586–1641), botanist and pharmacist

Antoine Girard de Saint-Amant (1594–1661), Protestant poet converted to Catholicism

Samuel Bochart (1599–1667), Protestant theologian and Orientalist

Jean Dubuc (Born 1600's), Great Grandfather of Julien Dubuque (1762–1810, French-Canadian explorer) and founder of Dubuque, Iowa, USA.

Pierre Corneille (1606–1684), tragedian

Guillaume Couture (1617-1701-04-04), Lay Missionary and diplomat who moved to Quebec around 1640

Adrien Auzout (1622–1691), astronomer

Thomas Corneille (1625–1709), dramatist, brother of Pierre Corneille

Noel Alexandre (1630–1724), theologian and ecclesiastical historian

Catherine Primot-Thiéry (1640- ?), Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville's mother, both Canadian explorers

Marie Champmeslé (1642–1698), actress

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643–1687), cleric and explorer

Gabriel Daniel (1649–1728), Jesuit historian

Nicolas Lemery (1645–1715), chemist

Jean Jouvenet (1647–1717), painter

Nicolas Gueudeville (1652–1721), catholic translator, journalist, historian an writer, converted to Protestantism

Jacques Basnages (1653–1723), Protestant theologian

Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657–1757), author, nephew of Pierre Corneille

Pierre Antoine Motteux (1663–1718), French born English translator and dramatist

Pierre Dangicourt (1664–1727), mathematician

Pierre François le Courayer (1681–1776), Catholic theological and supporter of the church of England

François d'Agincourt (1684–1758), composer, harpsichordist and organist

Jean II Restout (1692–1768), painter

Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (1711–1780), novelist

Jacques-François Blondel (1705–1774), architect, urbanist

Marie-Madeleine Hachard (1708–1760), nun at Couvent des Ursulines, founder of a sister monastery in New-Orleans

Jacques Duphly (1715–1789), harpsichordist and composer

Pierre Levieux (1702–1796), capitaine du navire

François-Adrien Boïeldieu (1775–1834), composer, mainly of operas

Pierre Louis Dulong (1785–1838), physicist and chemist

Théodore Géricault (1791–1824), painter, painted The Raft of the Medusa

Armand Carrel (1800–1836), writer

Pierre Adolphe Chéruel (1809–1891), historian

Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880), novelist, who wrote Madame Bovary

Eugène Ketterer (1831–1870), composer and pianist

Maurice Leblanc (1864–1941), novelist, creator of the character Arsène Lupin

Charles Nicolle (1866–1936), bacteriologist who earned the 1928 Nobel Prize in Medicine

Georges Guillain (1876–1961), neurologist

Marcel Dupré (1886–1971), organist and composer

Philippe Étancelin (1896–1981), Grand Prix motor racing

Roger Apéry (1916–1994), mathematician

Jacques Rivette (born 1928), film director

Anny Duperey (born 1947), actress and novelist

François Hollande (born 1953), politician and Parti Socialiste's first secretary

Élise Lucet (born 1963), journalist

Stéphan Caron (born 1966), freestyle swimmer

Karin Viard (born 1966), actress

Vincent Delerm (born 1976), singer-songwriter, pianist

David Trezeguet (born 1977), football striker

Ian Mahinmi basketball player

Christophe Mendy boxer

Darnel Situ footballer

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Rouen is twinned with: Gdańsk, Poland, since 1992 Cleveland, United States of America Hanover, Germany Norwich, United Kingdom Ningbo, China Salerno, Italy, since 2003 Wejherowo, Poland Jeju City, South Korea, since 2004

In fiction and popular culture

Fine art

, 1894.]] The Rouen Cathedral was the subject for 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.; one is in the National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade. The estimated value of one painting is over $40 million.

Literature

The character Erik, or The Opera Ghost of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera was supposedly born "in a small town not far from Rouen".

Rouen also played a major part in the Flaubert novel Madame Bovary.

Maupassant, a student of Flaubert, wrote a number of short stories based in and around Rouen.

In book two of The Strongbow Saga, the Vikings invade and conquer Ruda, also known as Rouen and make it their base in Frankia.

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

May Wedderburn Cannan wrote of Rouen in her 1915 poem on World War I "Rouen".

Music

The British band Supergrass named their fifth studio album Road to Rouen, punning on an Anglicised version of the city name's pronunciation.

Film

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.

Computer games

The game Call of Duty 3 features a map set in Rouen. The map, entitled Rouen, is mainly city and offers fierce city fighting, much like that seen in World War II.

In the Soul Calibur series of fighting games, Raphael, a playable character, is explained as being born in Rouen. Interestingly, his fighting style involves an English rapier. His adopted daughter Amy is also from Rouen, having been a street child living there.

Rouen appears as an important location to protagonist Alice Elliot in the game Shadow Hearts.

The Rouen-Les-Essarts Grand Prix circuit is featured in both Grand Prix Legends and RFactor.

The PC adventure game starts in Rouen.

Heraldry

See also

Archbishopric of Rouen

Saint Ouen (catholic saint)

References

INSEE

Notes

External links

Rouen Seine valley Tourist Board's Website City council website Objectif Rouen : Pictures and descriptions of the most famous monuments The Catholic Encyclopedia 1908 detailed ecclesiastical history Rouen, Its History and Monuments, by Théodore Licquet, 1840, from Project Gutenberg

Category:Communes of Seine-Maritime * Category:Viking Age populated places