Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray () is a
commune in the
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� ...
department in the
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 ...
region in northern
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
History
Evidence of ancient habitation has been found on and around the site of modern-day Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray including
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
tools (dated to 2000 years BC) as well as signs of Gallo-Roman settlements (200–300 years AD).
A hamlet called Sancti Stephani and dependent on the
Abbey of Saint-Wandrille was reported in the ninth century in a royal charter. The village then developed along the road connecting
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 ...
to
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the parish had five hundred inhabitants. The population grew, benefiting from arable land near the river, as well as rich forests, moors and grasslands.
During the Revolution, in 1790, Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray was constituted as a political administration. The town began to take its urban and industrial character from the mid-nineteenth century with the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
and the arrival of the railway.
The first steam trains of Western Railway Company between Paris and Rouen began service in 1843, increasing the attractiveness of the town for industry. The 1860s saw the establishment of a large cotton factory creating hundreds of jobs, and led to the expansion of the town to accommodate its expanding workforce.
In the early twentieth century, the opening of the railway workshops of Quatre-Mares (1913), the arrival of
Camille Cavallier's Fonderie Lorraine in 1916 and the Stationery Chapel (1928) reinforced the industrial character of the city.
Prince Karl Friedrich of Hohenzollern He fought in
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
as an aviator between 1914 and 1917. He commanded Fliegerabteilung (Artillerie) 258, an
artillery spotting unit, but flew patrols in a single-seat fighter with
Jasta Boelcke whenever possible. During one such patrol on March 21, 1917, he was forced to land because of a bullet in his engine and with a slight wound to his foot. He landed his
Albatros aircraft in
no-man's land, but while running towards his own lines he was shot in the back and severely wounded by Australian troops. He was taken into captivity, where he died from his injuries on 6 April 1917 at Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray.
In 1923, three years after the
Tours Congress which saw the separation of the communist majority (KIS) and the minority Socialist (SFIO), Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray became one of the first cities in France to elect a communist controlled council.
On 26 July 2016 two knife-wielding men, supporting the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...
, burst into a 16th-century church in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray,
took five hostages and killed an 85-year-old Roman Catholic priest, the
Reverend Jacques Hamel, before they were shot and killed by the
BRI police.
"Teenagers who killed French priest made film declaring allegiance to Isis", by Kim Willsher, ''The Guardian''
/ref>
Geography
Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray is a large suburban town of light industry
Light industry are Industry (economics), industries that usually are less Capital intensity, capital-intensive than heavy industry, heavy industries and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consum ...
and forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...
situated by the banks of the 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 ...
, some south of the centre of Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
on the D18 and the D18e roads. The commune is served by the Rouen tramway.
Heraldry
Population
Twin towns
Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray is twinned with Nordenham
Nordenham () is a town in the Wesermarsch district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located at the mouth (on the west bank) of the Weser river on the Butjadingen peninsula on the coast of the North Sea. The seaport city of Bremerhaven is locat ...
(Germany), Nova Kakhovka
Nova Kakhovka (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kakhovka Raion, Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine. Nova Kakhovka has been under Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast, Russian occupation since February 2022. Its estimated population ...
(Ukraine), and Gateshead, Tyne and Wear (UK).
Education
The engineering College École supérieure d'ingénieurs en technologies innovantes is located in the city.
Places of interest
*The sixteenth-century church of St Étienne.
*The church of St Thérèse.
*The twentieth-century church of Notre-Dame.
*"Le Rive Gauche" cultural centre.
*The Technopole at Madrillet.
*The fifteenth-century manorhouse
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
du Madrillet, in the forest.
See also
*
References
External links
Website about Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintetiennedurouvray
Communes of Seine-Maritime