The only relic of Rouen’s medieval Jewish community, expelled by Philippe le Bel in 1306, is hidden underneath the staircase at the eastern end of the Palais de Justice courtyard. An impressive, stone-built Romanesque structure constructed around 1100, it is the oldest extant Jewish communal structure in Western Europe. The only way to see it is on a guided visit. The tourist office runs two-hour tours at 3pm every Tuesday and at 10.30am on the last Friday of every month.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
19.86 MILES
Under Richard the Lionheart's command, Château Gaillard was built with unbelievable dispatch between 1196 and 1198, securing the western border of English…
0.16 MILES
For an introduction to the great 15th-century heroine and the events that earned her fame – and shortly thereafter condemnation – don't miss this…
0.29 MILES
This largely empty 14th-century abbey is a gloriously sublime and quite stunning example of the Rayonnant Gothic style, with a colossal interior dappled…
0.15 MILES
Rouen’s stunning Gothic cathedral, built between the late 12th and 16th centuries, was famously the subject of a series of canvases painted by Monet at…
0.6 MILES
In a large, circular column on the waterfront, Panorama XXL is a massive 360-degree exhibition offering in-depth exploring of one astonishing landscape,…
0.19 MILES
Housed in a very grand structure flung up in 1870, Rouen’s simply outstanding fine-arts museum features canvases by Rubens, Modigliani, Pissarro, Renoir,…
12.19 MILES
With its ghostly white-stone ruins glowing against bright green grass and dark green trees, the Abbaye de Jumièges is one of Normandy’s most evocative…
0.29 MILES
This supreme example of the Flamboyant Gothic–style church was built between 1437 and 1521, but much of the decoration dates from the Renaissance. The…
Nearby Rouen attractions
0.05 MILES
The ornately Gothic Law Courts, little more than a shell at the end of WWII, have been restored to their early-16th-century glory. On rue Jeanne d'Arc,…
0.08 MILES
Spanning rue du Gros Horloge, the Great Clock’s Renaissance archway has a gilded, one-handed medieval clock face on each side. High above, a Gothic belfry…
0.15 MILES
Rouen’s stunning Gothic cathedral, built between the late 12th and 16th centuries, was famously the subject of a series of canvases painted by Monet at…
0.16 MILES
For an introduction to the great 15th-century heroine and the events that earned her fame – and shortly thereafter condemnation – don't miss this…
5. Musée Le Secq des Tournelles
0.18 MILES
Home to one of the world’s premier collections of wrought iron, this riveting (excuse the pun) museum is an astonishing sight, showcasing the…
0.19 MILES
Housed in a very grand structure flung up in 1870, Rouen’s simply outstanding fine-arts museum features canvases by Rubens, Modigliani, Pissarro, Renoir,…
0.21 MILES
The old city's main thoroughfare, rue du Gros Horloge, runs from the cathedral west to place du Vieux Marché, where 19-year-old Joan of Arc was burned at…
0.22 MILES
Dedicated in 1979, the thrillingly bizarre Église Jeanne d'Arc, with its fish-scale exterior, marks the spot where 19-year-old Joan of Arc was burned at…