The Dark Side of Rouen
As I was preparing this post, I noticed that @leaky20 had already published something about Rouen in travelfeed last year: I can only recommend the excellent photos under the title Rouen – The Hogsmead of France.
Therefore I abandoned my plan to write a post about the old centre of Normandy. But not entirely: Rouen is home to a building that shows a particularly dark chapter in European history and which @leaky20 is missing: the ossuary LʼAiîre Saint-Maclou from the time of the Black Death.
Die düstere Seite von Rouen
Als ich diesen Post vorbereitete, musste ich feststellen, dass @leaky20 letztes Jahr schon etwas zu Rouen in der Gruppe travelfeed veröffentlicht hat: Ich kann die hervorragenden Fotos unter dem Titel Rouen – The Hogsmead of France nur jedem empfehlen.
Daraufhin habe ich meinen Plan aufgegeben, selbst einen Post über die Metropole der Normandie zu schreiben. Aber nicht ganz: In Rouen steht ein Gebäude, das ein besonders düsteres Kapitel der europäischen Geschichte geradezu verkörpert und das bei @leaky20 fehlt: das Beinhaus LʼAître Saint-Maclou aus der Zeit des Schwarzen Todes.
Notre-Dame Cathedral in Rouen: In this church, the Norman dukes were crowned and buried after their death. From the large square in front of the cathedral, it takes just over five minutes to walk along Rue Saint-Romain to the LʼAître Saint-Maclou ossuary, which is about 500 metres further east.
Die Kathedrale Notre-Dame von Rouen: Hier wurden die normannischen Herzöge gekrönt und nach ihrem Tod bestattet. Vom großen Platz vor der Kathedrale gelangt man über die Rue Saint-Romain zu Fuß in nur gut fünf Minuten zum Beinhaus LʼAître Saint-Maclou, das etwa 500 Meter weiter östlich liegt.
The ossuary LʼAître Saint-Maclou from the time of the Black Death. From 1346 to 1353, the plague ravaged Europe, killing an estimated 25 million people, about a third of the population at the time. It was during Black Death that the Rouen Ossuary was built, first mentioned in 1362. After another plague epidemic in the 16th century, the present buildings were erected, a cloister with attics where the human bones were kept. In 1705 the bones were removed. Today, the buildings house studios for artists.
Das Beinhaus L’Aître Saint-Maclou aus der Zeit des Schwarzen Todes. Von 1346 bis 1353 wütete in Europa die Pest, der schätzungsweise 25 Millionen Menschen zum Opfer fielen, rund ein Drittel der damaligen Bevölkerung. In dieser Zeit des Schwarzen Todes wurde das Beinhaus von Rouen gebaut, 1362 wird es erstmals erwähnt. Nach einer weiteren Pestepidemie im 16. Jahrhundert entstand die heutige Gestalt, ein Kreuzgang mit Dachböden, auf denen die Gebeine der Verstorbenen aufbewahrt wurden. Im Jahr 1705 hat man die Knochen entfernt. Heute sind in den Gebäuden Ateliers für Künstler untergebracht.
Today macabre-looking carvings remind us of the transience of existence.
Heute makaber wirkende Schnitzereien erinnern an die Vergänglichkeit des Daseins.
After a visit to the ossuary, Rouenʼs narrow streets seem all the more gloomy.
Nach dem Besuch des Beinhauses wirken die schmalen Gassen Rouens gleich noch einmal so düster.
Narrow compartments with many vertical beams are characteristic of Normandyʼs half-timbering.
Schmale Gefache mit eng stehenden senkrechten Balken sind charakteristisch für die Fachwerkhäuser der Normandie.
Detail from the countless reliefs of Notre-Dame Cathedral: Look at the figure at the bottom centre – what does he do? Not everything is gloomy. This excursion into Rouenʼs dark history should not prevent anyone from visiting the city.
Detail aus den zahllosen Reliefs der Kathedrale Notre-Dame: Schaut Euch die Figur unten in der Mitte an – was schlägt der Typ für Kapriolen? Rouen ist natürlich nicht nur düster. Dieser Ausflug in ein dunkles Kapitel der Geschichte sollte natürlich niemanden davon abhalten, die sehr sehenswerte Stadt zu besuchen.
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Thats was such a cool and interesting look at the city. Interesting read too. Well done!
Thank you very much. France is so great. I wonder when we can visit the country again. Until then, only our pictures and memories remain.
I don't find this gloomy at all. It is fascinating and full of so much history.
I wonder what they did with bones after they removed them from the ossuary. I find it terrible that such things are done. Nothing is sacred. Turning it into artist studios does not make it any better.
The narrow medieval streets and half timber houses are a gem.
Well, you are right. Normally Rouen is not gloomy at all. I just wanted to create a contrast to @leakey20 and his really good pictures. Unfortunately, I have not found anything about what happened to the bones. It only says: They were removed. In fact, it is a problem, even in archaeological excavations. Occasionally the human remains are treated with respect, but often they are not.
Yes, look at what the English did with the Egyptian mummies, ground them up for fertilizer.
Hiya, @ybanezkim26 here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #1152.
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Hat mir sehr gut gefallen.
LG Michael
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