This is the east end of the Rue du Gros-Horloge in Rouen, France. This street is the major connection between the cathedral square and the old marketsquare (Place du Vieux Marché) in the historical centre of Rouen. Here we can see why Rouen has a reputation of being the city with the finest half timbered buildings. Most of the buildings in the street have a status as protected buildings. No. 13, the smaller house in the left half of the panorama is a fine example of historism timber framing, which was built in 1905 by architect A. Lequeux to resemble the old Rouen. The larger house on the right side, with the passage to Rue la Champmesle, has obviously had a fire in one of its flats, shortly before these photos were taken. The street is named after the Gros-Horloge, situated a little further down the right side of the street. It is a fourteenth-century astronomical clock, prominently placed at the side of a tower crossing the street and facing the cathedral. Rouen Cathedral can partly be seen at the left end of the streetview.
Nowadays the street is very popular with tourists and for shopping, so we can see lots of well known chain stores, like Etam, Oysho, Salamander, Aigle, Orange or pimkie amongst others. Rouen is the historical capital of the Normandy, ever since the Duchy of Normandy was founded in the early 10th century. In the following centuries the city had a changeful history of belonging to Britain and France in turns. It was here that Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431.
This old town streetview panorama of the Rue du Gros-Horloge in Rouen was presented in week 19 of our 101 weeks 101 cities of europe project, together with more streetline views of the Rue du Gros-Horloge and Rouen’s city centre.