Rouen Cathedral

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Information
Rouen Cathedral
Rouen Cathedral was the world's tallest building from 1876 to 1880.*
Preceded by	St. Nikolai, Hamburg
Surpassed by	Cologne Cathedral
Location	Rouen, France
Status	Complete
Constructed	1202-1880
Height
Antenna/Spire	151 m (495 ft.)
Technical details
Floor count	n/a
*Fully habitable, self-supported, from main entrance to highest structural or architectural top; see the list of tallest buildings in the world for other listings.

Rouen Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen) is a Gothic cathedral in Rouen, in northwestern France. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Rouen.

1 Features
2 In Art
3 References
4 See also

[edit] Features

Rouen Cathedral contains a tomb of Richard the Lionheart which contains his heart. His bowels were buried within the church of the Chateau of Châlus-Chabrol in the Limousin. It was from the walls of the Chateau of Châlus-Chabrol that the crossbow bolt was fired, which led to his death once the wound became septic. His corporal remains were buried next to his father at Fontevraud Abbey near Chinon and Saumur, France. Richard's effigy is on top of the tomb, and his name is inscribed in Latin on the side.

The Butter Tower was erected in the early 16th century. Archbishop Georges d'Amboise had authorised the burning of butter instead of oil, which was scarce, in lamps during Lent, collecting monies of six deniers Tournois from each diocesan for this permission.^[1]

Rouen Cathedral was the tallest building in the world (151 m) from 1876 to 1880.

The cathedral was bombed in 1944, taking several direct hits that narrowly missed destroying key pillars.

[edit] In Art

Rouen Cathedral, Full Sunlight, by Claude Monet, 1894

Entrance to Rouen Cathedral

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.

Gustave Flaubert was inspired by the stained glass windows of St. Julian and of Salome, basing two of his Three Tales on them.

Joris-Karl Huysmans wrote La Cathédrale about the Cathedral, a novel based on an intensive examination of the building.

[edit] References

^ Soyer, Alexis [1853] (1977). The Pantropheon or a History of Food and its Preparation in Ancient Times. Wisbech, Cambs.: Paddington Press, p. 172. ISBN 0-448-22976-5.