Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

and the department of

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inf� ...

. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of

medieval Europe In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

, the population of the metropolitan area () is 702,945 (2018). People from Rouen are known as ''Rouennais''. Rouen was the seat of the

Exchequer of Normandy The Exchequer of Normandy (''Échiquier de Normandie'') or Exchequer of Rouen (''Échiquier de Rouen'') was the fiscal and administrative court of the Duchy of Normandy until the early 16th century. Surviving records show that the Exchequer of N ...

during the Middle Ages. It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman and Angevin dynasties, which ruled both

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and large parts of modern France from the 11th to the 15th centuries. From the

13th century The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCI) through December 31, 1300 (MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched ...

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 The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

, it was on its soil that

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

was tried and burned alive on 30 May 1431. Severely damaged by the wave of bombing in 1944, it nevertheless regained its

economic dynamism Economic dynamism is the rate and direction of change in an economy. This can include activities like the rate of new business formation, the frequency of labor market turnover, and the geographic mobility of the workforce. Economists disagree on t ...

in the post-war period thanks to its industrial sites and its large seaport, which merged with the ports of Le Havre and Paris in 2021 to form the HAROPA Port. Endowed with a prestige established during the

medieval era In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

, and with a long architectural heritage in its historical monuments, Rouen is an important cultural capital. Several renowned establishments are located here, such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Le Secq des Tournelles museum, and

Rouen Cathedral Rouen Cathedral () is a Catholic church architecture, church in Rouen, Normandy, France. It is the Episcopal see, see of the Archbishop of Rouen, Primate of Normandy. It is famous for its three towers, each in a different style. The cathedral, b ...

. Seat of an archdiocese, it also hosts a court of appeal and a

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. 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.

History

Rouen was founded by the

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

ish tribe of the

Veliocasses The Veliocasses or Velocasses (Gaulish: *''Weliocassēs'') were a Belgic or Gallic tribe of the La Tène and Roman periods, dwelling in the south of modern Seine-Maritime and in the north of Eure. Name They are mentioned as ''Veliocasses'' by ...

, 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 () was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul formerly known as Celtica. It is named after its capital Lugdunum (today's Lyon), possibly Roman Europe's major city west of ...

after

Lugdunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Colonia (Roman), Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon, France, Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but cont ...

(

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

) itself. Under the reorganization of

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

, 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 In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...

'' of which foundations remain. In the 5th century, it became the seat of a bishopric and later a capital of

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks during the Early Middle Ages, in contrast to the eastern Frankish kingdom, Austrasia. It initially included land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, in the north of present-day ...

. From their first incursion into the lower valley of the Seine in 841, the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

overran Rouen. From 912, Rouen was the capital of the

Duchy of Normandy The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple, King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans. From 1066 until 1204, as a r ...

and residence of the local dukes, until

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

moved his residence to

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

. In 1150, Rouen received its founding charter which permitted

self-government Self-governance, self-government, self-sovereignty or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any ...

. During the 12th century, Rouen was the site of a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

known as La Maison Sublime. Discovered in 1976, it is now a museum. 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 Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), also known as Philip Augustus (), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks (Latin: ''rex Francorum''), but from 1190 onward, Philip became the firs ...

of France entered Rouen and definitively annexed Normandy to the French Kingdom. He demolished the Norman castle and replaced it with his own, the , built on the site of the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

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 The Champagne fairs were an annual cycle of trade fairs which flourished in different towns of the County of Champagne in Grand Est, Northeastern France in the 12th and 13th centuries, originating in local agricultural and stock fairs. Each fair l ...

. 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 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In the 13th and 14th centuries 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 The Harelle (; from ''haro'') was a revolt that occurred in the French city of Rouen in 1382, followed by an uprising a few days later in Paris, as well as numerous other revolts across France in the subsequent week. France was in the midst of t ...

''. It was suppressed with the withdrawal of Rouen's charter and river-traffic privileges once more. During the

, on 19 January 1419, Rouen surrendered after a long siege to

Henry V of England Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, who annexed

once again to the Plantagenet domains. French soldier Alain Blanchard summarily hung English prisoners of war from the city walls during the siege, for which he was beheaded after Rouen fell, while

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

and

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of Rouen Robert de Livet excommunicated Henry V, resulting in him being imprisoned for five years in England.

, who supported a return to French rule, was

burned at the stake Death by burning is an list of execution methods, execution, murder, or suicide method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a puni ...

on 30 May 1431 in Rouen, 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 The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

, and underwent an unsuccessful five-month siege in 1591/2 by the Protestant

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

and an English force under

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

. A brief account by an English participant has survived. During the

repression of January and February 1894 The repression of January and February 1894 was an episode of the Ère des attentats (1892–1894), during which France engaged in significant Political repression, state repression against Anarchism, anarchists. The passage of the lois scélérat ...

, the police conducted raids targeting the

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or hierarchy, primarily targeting the state and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state w ...

living there, without much success. The first competitive motor race ran from Paris to Rouen in 1894. During the German occupation in World War II, the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

had its headquarters located in a chateau on what is now the Rouen Business School. The city was heavily damaged during the same war on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, and its famed cathedral was almost destroyed by Allied bombs.

Main sights

Rouen is known for

, with its ''Tour de Beurre'' (''butter tower'') financed by the sale of

indulgences In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

for the consumption of butter during

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

. The cathedral's gothic façade (completed in the 16th century) was the subject of a series of paintings by

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

, some of which are exhibited in the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

in Paris. The '' Gros Horloge'' is an

astronomical clock An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets. Definition ...

dating back to the 90th 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

was brought in 1431 to be threatened with torture (contrary to popular belief, she was not imprisoned there but in the ''tour de lady Pucelle''(since destroyed); the '' Church of Saint Ouen'' (12th–15th century); the '' Palais de Justice'', which was once the seat of the ''

Parlement Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the ''Parlement'' of Paris. Though both th ...

'' (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 Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ...

and

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

for which Rouen was renowned during the 16th to 18th centuries. Rouen is also noted for its surviving

half-timbered Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

buildings. There are many museums in Rouen: the

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen () is an art museum in Rouen, in Normandy in north-western France. It was established by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1801, and is housed in a building designed by and built between 1877, and 1888. Its collections in ...

, an art museum with paintings by well-known artists such as

and Géricault; the 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 local works from the Bronze Age through the Renaissance; the Musée de la céramique, the Museum of Natural History, founded in 1834 and re-opened in 2007; and the Musée Le Secq des Tournelles, which houses various collections of objects. The Jardin des Plantes de Rouen is a notable

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

once owned by Scottish banker

John Law John Law may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Law (artist) (born 1958), American artist * John Law (comics), comic-book character created by Will Eisner * John Law (film director), Hong Kong film director * John Law (musician) (born 1961) ...

, dating from 1840 in its present form. It was the site of Élisa Garnerin's parachute jump from a balloon in 1817. There is also a park and garden at the Champs de Mars, to the east of the city centre. The Paris–Rouen motor race of 1894, ''Le Petit Journal'' Horseless Carriages Contest, ended at the Champs de Mars. In the centre of the Place du Vieux Marché (the site of Joan of Arc's pyre) 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 Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

boat and a fish shape. Rouen was also home to the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championship. It is one of the oldest ...

, hosting the race at the nearby

Rouen-Les-Essarts Rouen-Les-Essarts was a motor racing circuit in Orival, Seine-Maritime, Orival, near Rouen, France. From its opening in 1950, Rouen-Les-Essarts was recognized as one of Europe's finest circuits, with modern pits, a wide track, and spectator gra ...

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 an

opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

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

Transport

Mainline trains operate from Gare de Rouen-Rive-Droite to

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

and Paris, and regional trains to

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

and other local destinations in

. Daily direct trains operate to

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

and

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, and direct

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

s (high-speed trains) connect daily with

and

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. 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 Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a France-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. Transdev was formed on 3 April 2011 via the merg ...

. Rouen has its own

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

. The

is a major axis for maritime cargo links in the Port of Rouen. The Cross-Channel ferry ports of

(50 minutes) and

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

, and the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...

are within easy driving distance (two and a half hours or less).

Administration

Rouen and its metropolitan area of 70 suburban communes form the

Métropole Rouen Normandie __NOTOC__ Métropole Rouen Normandie () is the ''métropole'', an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Rouen. It is located in the Seine-Maritime department, in the Normandy region, north-western France. It was created in January 2015, ...

, with 494,382 inhabitants at the 2010 census. In descending order of population, the largest of these suburbs are

Sotteville-lès-Rouen Sotteville-lès-Rouen (, literally ''Sotteville near Rouen'') is a commune and railway town in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography It is the largest suburb of the city of Rouen and adjacent to it, ...

Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. History Evidence of ancient habitation has been found on and around the site of modern-day Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray including ...

Le Grand-Quevilly Le Grand-Quevilly is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Geography The town is third largest suburb of Rouen, a port with considerable light industry situated just southwest of the centre ...

Le Petit-Quevilly Le Petit-Quevilly (, locally ) is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department, region of Normandy, France. Geography A residential and light industrial suburb situated inside a meander of the river Seine on the opposite bank to Rouen city centre ...

, and

Mont-Saint-Aignan Mont-Saint-Aignan () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the region of Normandy, northwestern France. The inhabitants of the town of Mont-Saint-Aignan are called ''Mont-Saint-Aignanais'' in French. Due to the presence of higher edu ...

, each with a population exceeding 20,000. The city council is based at the Hôtel de Ville.

Population

Education

The main schools of higher education are the

University of Rouen The University of Rouen Normandy (''Université de Rouen Normandie'') is a French university, in the Academy of Rouen. History and demographics Located not in Rouen, but in the suburb of Mont-Saint-Aignan (a "township" in the Normandy region), t ...

and NEOMA Business School (former

École Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen The Rouen Business School () was a leading French business school. It was founded in 1871. On 24 April 2013, Rouen Business School and Reims Management School announced the merger of the two schools into a single entity - NEOMA Business School. ...

Unilasalle UniLaSalle is one of the 210 France, French Engineering education, engineering schools authorized to award engineering degrees. It was created following the merger of ESITPA and LaSalle Beauvais. UniLaSalle is a Independent school, private higher ...

(agronomy and agriculture), both located at nearby

, and the INSA Rouen, ESIGELEC, ESITech and the CESI, the three at nearby

Culture

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. Every five years, the city hosts the large maritime exposition, L'Armada. The city is represented by Quevilly-Rouen football club, currently in the

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

. Officially called Union Sportive Quevillaise-Rouen Métropole, the club play at the 12,018 capacity

Stade Robert Diochon The Stade Robert-Diochon () is a stadium in Le Petit-Quevilly, France. It is currently used for football (soccer), football matches and is the home stadium of both FC Rouen and US Quevilly-Rouen. As of 2022, the Rugby union, Rugby Union club R ...

in nearby

. Rouen Normandie Rugby represent the city in Rugby Union. One of few professional rugby teams from northern France, Rouen Normandie Rugby, currently play in the second-tier

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

Dragons de Rouen The Dragons de Rouen (Rouen Dragons), are a French professional ice hockey team based in Rouen playing in the Ligue Magnus. The team was founded in 1982 and plays home games at the Île Lacroix. History Only 3 years after its founding, the cl ...

, an ice hockey club, play in the top-tier

Ligue Magnus The Ligue Magnus, currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its champio ...

at the Île Lacroix arena.

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

is also played in the city at Stade Saint Exupéry. The local team, Huskies de Rouen play in the top French tier, they also play some games in European competition.

Notable residents

Rouen was the birthplace of: * Noel Alexandre (1639–1724), theologian and ecclesiastical historian. * Joseph-Henri Altès (1826–1895), flautist and pedagog *

Roger Apéry Roger Apéry (; 14 November 1916, Rouen – 18 December 1994, Caen) was a Greek-French mathematician most remembered for Apéry's theorem, which states that is an irrational number. Here, denotes the Riemann zeta function. Biography Apéry wa ...

(1916–1994), mathematician * (b. 1500s), explorer * Adrien Auzout (1622–1691), astronomer * Jacques Basnages (1653–1723), Protestant theologian. * Juliette Billard, (1889–1975), architect, watercolorist, designer * Petit Biscuit (b. 1999), music producer *

Jacques-François Blondel Jacques-François Blondel (8 January 1705 – 9 January 1774) was an 18th-century French architect and teacher. After running his own highly successful school of architecture for many years, he was appointed Professor of Architecture at the Acad� ...

(1705–1774), architect. *

Samuel Bochart Samuel Bochart (30 May 1599 – 16 May 1667) was a French Protestant biblical scholar, a student of Thomas Erpenius and the teacher of Pierre Daniel Huet. His two-volume (Caen 1646) exerted a profound influence on seventeenth-century Biblical e ...

(1599–1667), Protestant theologian. * François-Adrien Boïeldieu (1775–1834), composer. * Charles Boulanger de Boisfremont (1773-1838), painter * Eugène Caron (1834–1903), opera singer *

Stéphan Caron Stéphan Caron (sometimes spelled Stéphane Caron, born 1 July 1966 in Rouen, Seine-Maritime) is a former freestyle swimmer from France. Caron won the bronze medal in the men's 100 m freestyle at the Summer Olympics The Summer Olym ...

(b. 1966), swimmer *

Armand Carrel Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Armand Carrel (8 May 1800 – 25 July 1836) was a French journalist and political writer. Early life He was born at Rouen. His father was a wealthy merchant, and he received a liberal education at the '' Lycée Pierre Co ...

(1800–1836), writer. *

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (; November 22, 1643 – March 19, 1687), was a 17th-century French explorer and North American fur trade, fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada ...

(1643–1687), explorer. *

Marie Champmeslé Marie Champmeslé (; ''née'' Desmares ; 18 February 1642 – 15 May 1698) was a French stage actress. Biography She was born in Rouen of a wealthy family; her father's name was Desmares. She made her first appearance on the stage at Rouen wit ...

(1642–1698), actress. * Pierre Adolphe Chéruel (1809–1891), historian. *

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage ...

(1606–1684), tragedian. *

Thomas Corneille Thomas Corneille (20 August 1625 – 8 December 1709) was a French lexicographer and dramatist. Biography Born in Rouen some nineteen years after his brother Pierre, the "great Corneille", Thomas's skill as a poet seems to have shown itself ...

(1625–1709), dramatist, brother of Pierre Corneille. * Guillaume Couture (1617–1701), lay missionary and diplomat *

François d'Agincourt François d'Agincourt (also d'Agincour, Dagincourt, Dagincour) (1684 – 30 April 1758) was a French harpsichordist, organist, and composer. He spent most of his life in Rouen, his native city, where he worked as organist of the Rouen Cathedra ...

(1684–1758), composer *

Pierre Dangicourt Pierre Dangicourt (; 1664 Rouen – 12 Feb 1727 Berlin) was a French mathematician. As a Protestant, he left France after the Edict of Fontainebleau and settled in Prussia, where he was made an associate member of the Academy of Berlin. Dangic ...

(1664–1727), mathematician * Gabriel Daniel (1649–1728), Jesuit historian. * François Blouet de Camilly (1664–1723), Catholic Archbishop *

François de Civille François de Civille, seigneur de Saint-Mards (1537–1610), was a French soldier and diplomat. The Civille family of Rouen was of Spanish origin. Buried alive François de Civille was a soldier in the French Wars of Religion. He wrote a memoir ...

(1537–1610), military commander * Anne Mauduit de Fatouville (mid 17th C – 1715), playwright * Guy de la Brosse (1586–1641), botanist and pharmacist * Antoine Girard de Saint-Amant (1594–1661), poet. * Léon de Saint-Réquier (1872–1964), organist and composer * Adrien Charles Deshommets de Martainville (1783–1847), politician *

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

(1887–1968), artist *

Pierre Louis Dulong Pierre Louis Dulong FRS FRSE (; ; 12 February 1785 – 19 July 1838) was a French physicist and chemist. He is remembered today largely for the law of Dulong and Petit, although he was much-lauded by his contemporaries for his studies into ...

(1785–1838), physicist and chemist. *

Anny Duperey Anny Duperey (; born Annie Legras; 28 June 1947) is a French actress, published photographer and best-selling author with a career spanning almost six decades as of 2021 and more than eighty cinema or television credits, around thirty theatre ...

(b. 1947), actress and novelist *

Jacques Duphly Jacques Duphly (also Dufly, Du Phly; 12 January 1715 – 15 July 1789) was a French harpsichordist and composer. Early career as an organist He was born in Rouen, France, the son of Jacques-Agathe Duphly and Marie-Louise Boivin. As a boy, he s ...

(1715–1789), composer *

Marcel Dupré Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré (; 3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue. Early life and education Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré ...

(1886–1971), composer *

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

(1442–1483), King of England. * Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk (1444-c1503), sister of Edward IV, married John de la Pole, Plantagenet. * Philippe Étancelin (1896–1981), race car driver * Fayçal Fajr (b. 1988), footballer *

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , ; ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realis ...

(1821–1880), novelist. *

Pierre Gasly Pierre Jean-Jacques Gasly (; born 7 February 1996) is a French racing driver who competes in Formula One for Alpine. Gasly won the 2020 Italian Grand Prix with AlphaTauri. Born and raised in Normandy, Gasly began competitive kart racing age ...

(b. 1996), Formula One driver *

Théodore Géricault Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French painter and lithographer, whose best-known painting is '' The Raft of the Medusa''. Despite his short life, he was one of the pioneers of the Romanti ...

(1791–1824), painter. * Alexis Gougeard (b. 1993), cyclist * Pierre-Antoine Guéroult (1749–1816), scholar * (1507–1569), poet * (1652–1721), Catholic writer *

Georges Guillain Georges Charles Guillain () (3 March 1876 – 29 June 1961) was a French neurologist born in Rouen. He studied medicine in Rouen and Paris, where he learned clinical education at several hospitals. He developed an interest in neurology, and his f ...

(1876–1961), neurologist * Marie-Madeleine Hachard (1708–1760), nun and abbess * Armand Havet (1795–1820), botanist *

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

(b. 1954), 24th

President of the French Republic The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...

* Robert Hubert (-1666), executed in England for falsely confessing to starting the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

Jean II Restout Jean Restout the Younger (26 March 16921 January 1768) was a French artist, who worked in painting and drawing. Although little remembered today, Restout was well-respected by his contemporaries for his religious compositions. Biography Restout w ...

(1692–1768), painter. * Jean Jouvenet (–1717), painter of religious subjects. * Jean Jouvenet (1647–1717), painter. * Eugène Ketterer (1831–1870), composer *

Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle (; ; 11 February 1657 – 9 January 1757), also called Bernard Le Bouyer de Fontenelle, was a French author and an influential member of three of the academies of the Institut de France, noted especially for his ...

(1657–1757), author, nephew of Pierre Corneille. * Jean-Laurent Le Cerf de La Viéville (1674–1707), musicographer *

Pierre François le Courayer Pierre François le Courayer (17 November 1681 – 17 October 1776) was a French Catholic theological writer, for many years an expatriate in England. Life Pierre François le Courayer was born at Rouen. While canon regular and librarian of the ...

(1681–1776), theologian. *

Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert Pierre le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert or Boisguillebert (; 17 February 164610 October 1714) was a French lawmaker and a Jansenist, one of the inventors of the notion of an economic market. Early life He was born at Rouen of an ancient noble fa ...

(1646–1714) economist and lawmaker. *

Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French ...

(1864–1941), novelist *

Jean Lecanuet Jean Adrien François Lecanuet (4 March 1920 – 22 February 1993) was a French Centrism, centrist politician. Biography Lecanuet was born to a family of modest means in Rouen and gravitated towards philosophy studies. He received his diplo ...

(1920–1993), politician * Jean-Yves Lechevallier (b. 1946), sculptor *

Nicolas Lemery Nicolas Lémery (or Lemery as his name appeared in his international publications) (17 November 1645 – 19 June 1715), French chemist, was born at Rouen. He was one of the first to develop theories on acid-base chemistry. Life After learning ph ...

(1645–1715), chemist. * Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (1711–1780), novelist * Louise Levesque (1703–1745), playwright, poet * Dominique Lokoli (b. 1952), footballer *

Lola Lovinfosse Lola Lovinfosse (; born 17 October 2005) is a French racing driver who most recently competed in F1 Academy for Rodin Motorsport. Career Karting Lovinfosse began her karting career in 2018, competing in the X30 Junior class of the IAME Winter C ...

(b. 2005), racing driver *

Élise Lucet Élise Lucet (; born 30 May 1963) is a French journalist and television host. Known for her investigative journalism work on France Télévisions shows such as '' Pièces à Conviction'', '' Cash Investigation'' and '' Envoyé spécial'', she ha ...

(b. 1963), journalist * Ian Mahinmi (b. 1986), basketball player * Alphonse Maille (1813–1865) botanist * Théo Maledon (b. 2001), basketball player * Christophe Mendy (b. 1971), boxer * Jean-Amédée Méreaux (1802–1874), musicologist, pianist and composer * Céline Minard (b. 1969), writer * Pierre Antoine Motteux (1663–1718), French-born English dramatist. * Iliman Ndiaye (b. 2000), footballer *

Charles Nicolle Charles Jules Henri Nicolle (21 September 1866 – 28 February 1936) was a French bacteriologist who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his identification of lice as the transmitter of epidemic typhus. Family Nicolle was born to Aline Lo ...

(1866–1936), bacteriologist *

Isaac Oliver Isaac Oliver ( – bur. 2 October 1617) or Olivier was an English portrait miniature painter. Life and work Born in Rouen around 1565, he moved to London in 1568 with his Huguenot parents Peter and Epiphany Oliver to escape the Wars of Reli ...

(1556–1617), French-born English painter. * Nathalie Péchalat (b. 1983), ice dancer *

Thomas Pesquet Thomas Gautier Pesquet (; born 27 February 1978) is a French aerospace engineer, aviator, pilot, European Space Agency astronaut, actor, musician, and writer. Pesquet was selected by ESA as a candidate in May 2009, and he successfully completed ...

(b. 1978), astronaut * Robert Antoine Pinchon (1886–1943), painter * François Raguenet (1660–1722), historian, biographer and musicologist *

Jacques Rivette Jacques Rivette (; 1 March 1928 – 29 January 2016) was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine '' Cahiers du Cinéma''. He made twenty-nine films, including '' L'Amour fo ...

(1928–2016), film director *

Armand Salacrou Armand Camille Salacrou (; 9 August 1899 – 23 November 1989) was a French dramatist. Biography He was born in Rouen, but spent most of his childhood at Le Havre, and moved to Paris in 1917. His first works show the influence of the Surre ...

(1899–1989), dramatist *

Aurélien Tchouaméni Aurélien Djani Tchouaméni (; born 27 January 2000) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or a centre-back for La Liga club Real Madrid and the France national team. He is regarded as one of the best defensiv ...

(b. 2000), footballer *

David Trezeguet David Sergio Trezeguet (, ; born 15 October 1977) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Trezeguet began his career in Argentina with Club Atlético Platense at ...

(b. 1977), footballer *

Amaury Vassili Amaury Vassili Chotard (born 8 June 1989) is a French opera singer and professional tenor. His debut album, ''Vincerò'' (2009), went double platinum in France, and he has had international success with releases in Canada, South Africa, and So ...

(b. 1989), singer *

Karin Viard Karin Viard (; born 24 January 1966) is a French actress. She made her film debut in '' Tatie Danielle'' in 1990. She has appeared in films such as ''Delicatessen'', '' L'Emploi du temps'', ''Adultère, mode d'emploi'' and ''La parenthèse encha ...

(b. 1966), actress * Hubert Wulfranc (b. 1956), Member of Parliament

International relations

Rouen is twinned with: *

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, since 1963 *

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, since 1966 *

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, England,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, since 1959 *

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, United States, since 2008 *

Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomeranian Voivodeship ( ; ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The voivodeship was established on January 1, 1999, out of the former voivodeships of Gdańsk Voivo ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, since 1992 *

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

, Italy, since 2002 *

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, since 1990

Sculpture

During the second half of the 20th century, sculptures by Jean-Yves Lechevallier were erected in the city. Inaugurated in 2010, the Rouen Impressionnée hosted the contemporary urban redevelopment installation sculpture 'Camille' by Belgian artist

Arne Quinze Arne Quinze (born 15 December 1971) is a Belgian conceptual artist known for his public art installations, which include sculptures, drawings, and paintings. He began as a graffiti artist in Brussels in his late teens with no formal art educ ...

. Quinze's use of interlocking systems in sculpture employ wood, concrete, paint and metal. The Quasi-Quinze method of sculpture utilizes structural integrity and randomness as key elements for 'Camille'. Located on the Boieldieu Bridge in the center of Rouen, this location was chosen by the artist to magnify the historical separation of its city's citizens.

Representations in art

is the subject of a series of paintings by the

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

painter

, who painted the same scene at different times of the day. Two paintings are in the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

in Washington, D.C.; two are in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow; one is in the

National Museum of Serbia The National Museum of Serbia () is the largest and oldest museum in Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in the central zone of Belgrade on a square plot between the Republic Square (Belgrade), Republic Square, formerly Theatre Square, and three stree ...

in Belgrade. The estimated value of one painting is over $40 million.

Heraldry

Climate

Rouen has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(''Cfb'' in the Köppen climate classification).

References

External links

* {{Authority control Communes of Seine-Maritime Viking Age populated places Prefectures in France Veliocasses Gallia Lugdunensis Normandy region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Cities in France