Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - 12:01 by rouen
April 1944, could undoubtable be seen as one of Rouen’s darkest hours. 70 years ago to the day saw the beginning of the bombardment of Rouen by the allies; Rouen under the stronghold of the Germans broke as 6000 shells rained down from the sky. In total, 600 tons of explosive crashed into the city, leaving more than 1,200 dead. As one survivor states; “The whole city was on fire. The smell of sulfur was everywhere.”
We can say without doubt that the Notre Dame of Rouen is one of the cities’ most precious assets, but the Second World War almost reduced this architectural masterpiece and its medieval city to pure rubble.
On the night of 17 to 18 April 1944, 7 shells pierced the cathedral, of which one passed through the vault and finish in the choir (fortunately it did not explode), the aisles of the nave and south aisle chapels. All but one chapel were destroyed, that of St. Catherine, that managed to keep this Gothic masterpiece from completely collapsing.
In addition, one of the four pillars supporting the transept and the 151 meters lantern tower were severely damaged. The pillar was quickly strengthened and supported to prevent the tower from complete collapse.
This was not the only monument that suffered; indeed, the Parliament of Normandy was badly damaged twice in 1944 in the bombing of 19 April, the Gothic wing was destroyed and on August 26 the central Gothic-Renaissance part was shelled, all but the neo-Gothic parties escaped destruction.
Today, we commemorate the 70th D-Day anniversary of Normandy, and we remember the fallen ones. In the build up to this historic event, why not revisit the main sites or take a tour of the key places in the Battle of Normandy?
