St. Ouen was formerly the church of an abbey dating to the Roman period and reorganized by Archbishop St. Ouen in the 7th century. It was founded in 1318 in place of a Romanesque church which previously occupied the site and of which the only relic is the chapel in the south transept. The choir alone was built in the 14th century. The nave of the church belongs to the 5th century, by the end of which the central tower with its octagonal lantern and four flanking turrets had been erected. The western facade dates from 1846. The large stained glass windows are of the i4th, 15th and 16th centuries. The Portail des Mar mousets, the entrance to the south transept, has a projecting porch, behind and above which rises a magnificent rose window. The north façade has no entrance.
The church of St. Maclou, behind the cathedral, begun in 1437 and finished early in the 16th century, is a rich example of the Flamboyant style, and has a rich portal with five arched openings. It is celebrated for carving attributed to Jean Goujon.
The church of St. Vincent, near the Seine, is a building of the I6th century and contains very fine stained-glass windows at the end of the north aisle, by Engrand and Jean le Prince, artists of Beauvais. The stained glass in the churches of St. Patrice (16th century) and St. Godar (late 15th century) is inferior only to that of St. Vincent.
The most important secular building in Rouen is the Palais de Justice, once the seat of the exchequer and, later, of the parlement of Normandy. It is in the late Gothic style and consists of a main building flanked by two wings. The left wing, known as the Salle des Procureurs, was built in 1493 and has a lofty barrel-roof of timber. South of the Palais de Justice is the Porte de la Grosse Horloge, an arcade spanning the street and surmounted by a large clock of the 15th century with two dials. The Tour de la Grosse Horloge, which rises beside the arcade, was built in 1389. The tower known as the Tour de Jeanne d'Arc was the scene of her trial, and is all that remains of the castle built by Philip Augustus early in the 13th century. The Porte Guillaume-Lion, opening on
to the Quai de Paris, is a handsome gateway built in Rouen is the seat of an archbishop, a prefect, a court of appeal and a court of assizes, and headquarters of the III. army corps. Its public institutions also include a tribunal of first instance, tribunals of commerce and of maritime commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators and a chamber of commerce. All the more important nations have consulates in the city.
Rouen is an important centre for trade in wines, spirits, grain and cattle. Grain, wine, coal, timber and petroleum are leading imports. Besides its manufactures it exports plaster and sand. The principal industries of Rouen and its district are the spinning and weaving of cotton, notably the manufacture of rouenneries (cotton fabric woven with dyed yarn), the printing and dyeing of the manufactured material and the spinning of other fibres; ship buildng and the making of various articles of clothing are also car ried on, and there are distilleries, petroleum-refineries and manu factories of chemicals, soap, machinery, carding-combs and brushes. The port of Rouen comprises the marine docks below the Boleldieu bridge, and the river dock, the timber dock and the petroleum dock above it. There is also a repairing dock. The Seine is tidal beyond Rouen. The port is accessible for ships draw ing 191 to 25 ft. of water, and its quays have a superficial area of about 194 acres. It is served by the lines of the Orleans, the Ouest-Etat and the Northern railways and these, in addition to the waterways connected with the Seine, make Rouen a convenient centre for the distribution of merchandise.
See A. Chervel, Histoire de Rouen pendant Pepoque communale (Rouen, 1843) ; id., Sous la domination anglaise (Rouen, 1840) ; C. Enlart, Rouen (Paris, 1904) ; J. Levainville, Rouen.