Rouen Cathedral

About

Notre-Dame Cathedral, officially the primary cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Rouen, is the most prestigious monument in the city of Rouen. This church placed under the name of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption (see Assumption) is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Rouen, capital of the ecclesiastical province of Normandy. The archbishop of Rouen with the title of primate of Normandy, his cathedral thus has the rank of primatial.

It is a construction of Gothic architecture whose first stones date back to the early Middle Ages. It has the peculiarity, rare in France, to preserve its archiepiscopal palace and the surrounding adjoining buildings dating from the same period. Like most major religious buildings of Norman Gothic, the cathedral has a "lantern tower" on the cross of the transept.

The wooden arrow covered with Renaissance-style gold lead was destroyed by a fire lit by lightning in 1822. It is now surmounted by a cast-iron arrow, built from 1825 to 1876 that peaks at 151 meters high. Notre Dame de Rouen Cathedral is the highest in France and was the highest building in the world...