architecture
travel
Cathedral Notre Dame de Rouen
Before I move on to our next destination - Lisbon, I wanted to elaborate on the trip to Rouen. I have been meaning to share this collection of photographs for weeks. As the saying goes, better late than never. In this post, there are mostly captures of the Notre Dame Cathedral, both of the outside and inside. It is a tremendously impressive structure. At the end, I have included a few photos of some other churches we saw on our walk across the city, like the unusual Church of St. Joan of Arc.
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| Looking up at the facade of Rouen's Notre Dame |
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| Close up of the facade |
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| Detail on the walls of the cathedral |
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| Carvings on the walls of the Rouen Cathedral |
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| Sunlight on the carvings |
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| Looking up at the entry way |
You can feel the gothic grandeur of this Cathedral as you approach it. I couldn't walk back far enough to capture it in it's entirety in one shot, even with my phone. I loved taking a closer look at the carvings on the walls and the wear and tear they've sustained over the years. Then you look up at the towering entrance before stepping in to see the interior illuminated by the light shining through the stained glass windows.
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| Light shining on the walls inside the Cathedral |
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| Side aisle of the Notre Dame de Rouen |
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| Light shining through stained glass onto the walls of the Cathedral |
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| Interior of the Rouen Cathedral |
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| Stained glass and reflections |
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| Inside the Cathedral |
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| Rouen Cathedral Organ |
It is no wonder the Notre Dame has been an inspiration for artists like Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro in the 19th century. Both of them painted this grand cathedral more than once. Monet captured it over 30 times in varying light conditions and weather. This impressionist artist spent six months painting the Rouen Cathedral. He was fascinated with the way the changing light conveyed different character at various times of the day and year. Claude Monet spent 12 hours a day painting this cathedral, sometimes even 10 canvases at a time!
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| Notre Dame de Rouen over a roof of a building |
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| Exterior side view of the Cathedral |
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| Sunlight on the front of the Cathedral |
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| Side view of the Rouen Cathedral |
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| Sunlight beam on the outside of the Cathedral |
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| Tower on a building in Rouen, France |
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| Exterior of a Church in Rouen |
The church of St. Joan of Arc is situated on the historic Place du Vieux-Marché, where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. The church was designed in the shape of an overturned boat. While on the outside it looks rather unchurch-like, the inside is illuminated by 13 stained glass windows. The ceiling also looks more impressive on the inside and you can really see the boat inspiration for this architecture. The windows date back to the 16th century and were part of another church. They were salvaged before the church was destroyed during World War II.
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| Church of St. Joan of Arc in Rouen |
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| Stained glass windows in the St. Joan of Arc Church |
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| Stained glass panels in the Church of St. Joan of Arc |
After Rouen, we spent two days at sea sailing to Lisbon. While we didn't get to see much of the city, I had some time to enjoy the early morning ahead of our expedition to Sintra and Cascais. Before the sun rose over the port of Lisbon, I watched the moon set over the city. This collection will be my next post, hopefully sooner than a month from now!
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