Rouen (canton of Rouen, Seine-Maritime) Cathedral of Notre-Dame , The Saint-Romain tower (XIIe)

    Originally isolated, the large quadrangular tower has now been integrated into the western façade of the cathedral. It was erected by canons at the beginning of the 1140s. Only the first two levels are from the 12th century. The room on the ground floor, which would have been the chapter courtroom, is decorated with plaster arcading and covered by a ribbed vault containing eight compartments. The upper room is remarkable for its slender volume and its two levels of windows. A side door now blocked up, communicated with a suspended gallery linking the tower to the main body of the cathedral’s façade. It could be compared to the tower constructed in the 12th century standing next to Beauvais cathedral, which as in Rouen contained a chapter courtroom.

Jacques Le Maho

Bibliography

- Musset, Lucien. - Normandie romane, 2. Haute-Normandie, La Pierre-qui-Vire, Zodiaque, 1974, p. 32