St. Joseph's Church

About

The Saint-Joseph Church is a parish church of Catholic worship emblematic of downtown Havre rebuilt in the French department of the Seine-Maritime, in the Normandy region. A representative monument of modern architecture, this "seamen" church symbolizes the renaissance of the city destroyed in 1944. Its lantern tower, which dominates from the top of its 107 m all the rebuilt neighborhoods, is both a lighthouse visible tens of kilometres off and a "stele in memory of the disappeared".

The end of World War II marks the destruction of the city of Le Havre during an intense bombing campaign between 5 and 11 September 1944, causing the death of nearly three thousand people. The material damage is such that it is the most devastated big city in France and the old Saint Joseph church, a modest neighbourhood building, does not escape destruction. It was rebuilt in 1951 by Auguste Perret, a precursor of reinforced concrete.

The church of Saint Joseph also accompanies the renewal of sacred art — thanks in particular to the stained glass windows of Marguerite Huré — and the emergence of lyrical abstraction during...