Saint-Ouen Abbey, Rouen

About this place

Saint-Ouen Abbey, is a large Gothic Catholic church and former Benedictine monastic church in Rouen. It is named for Audoin, 7th-century bishop of Rouen in modern Normandy, France. The church's name is sometimes anglicized as St Owen's. Built on a similar scale to nearby Rouen Cathedral, the abbey is famous for both its architecture and its large, unaltered Cavaillé-Coll organ, which was described by Charles-Marie Widor as "a Michelangelo of an organ". With the cathedral and the Church of Saint-Maclou, Saint-Ouen is one of the principal French Gothic monuments of the city. As you explore, compare the building itself with its decoration and later additions. Differences in materials, forms and imagery can reveal successive periods of patronage, making the visit a way to understand how religious places evolved over time.