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Saint John of Caen Church dans le Calvados

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine religieux
Eglise Renaissance et néo-Renaissance
Architecture gothique flamboyant
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Église Saint-Jean de Caen
Crédit photo : Ikmo-ned - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Haut Moyen Âge
Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
700
800
900
1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
VIIe siècle
Foundation of the primitive oratory
1059
First written entry
1153
Erection in prebend
1417
Damage during the war
XVe–XVIe siècles
Major reconstruction
1783
Transfer from cemetery
1802
Return to Catholic Worship
1840
Historical monument classification
1944
Battle Bombings
2012–2013
Closure for consolidation
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

Église Saint-Jean : liste de 1840

Key figures

Philippe de Harcourt - Bishop of Bayeux (XIIe s.) Built the church in prebend in 1153.
Eugène III - Pope (XII s.) Confirm the prebend by two bubbles.
Marc Brillaud de Laujardière - Architect (XXe s.) Post-1944 Reconstruction Plan.
Pieter Thys - Painter (XVII s.) Author of the classified Ecce Homo*.
Jean Restout - Painter (XVIII s.) *Mages worship* (after original).

Origin and history

The church of Saint John of Caen, located in the eponymous district, finds its origins in the seventh century with a first oratory based on a Roman way through the marshes of Orne. Stone sarcophagi of Caen, discovered in 1954–56, attest to a primitive necropolis and early worship dedicated to St John. The building was first cited in 1059 in a charter of Troarn Abbey, under the names Saint-Jean-des-Champs or Saint-Jean-de-l-Isle. In 1153, Bishop Philip of Harcourt the prebend of the cathedral of Bayeux, confirmed by two bubbles of Pope Eugene III.

Very damaged during the Hundred Years War (seat of 1417), the church was rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries, with a portal, a porch tower, a nave, then an apse and a choir. Until the 18th century, it was girded by its cemetery, transferred out of the city walls in 1783. During the Revolution, she served as a saltpetryman before being returned to worship in 1802. In the 19th century, the gate was redesigned, and in 1944 the church survived the bombings of the Battle of Caen, albeit badly damaged. Its post-Second World War restoration reveals medieval funeral slabs and buried bones.

Architecturally marked by its inclination (2.28 m to the northwest in 1700), due to a marshy ground, the 46-metre peg tower was never completed. Foundation work (15 to 21 m) stabilized the building, notably after its closure in 2012 for consolidation. The 16th century lantern tower, unfinished, and classified furniture (statues, retables, organs) bear witness to its rich past. Today, it belongs to the parish of Sainte-Trinité in Caen and remains a symbol of urban resilience.

The furniture includes notable works: an 18th century high altar (formerly at the Abbey of Ardenne), statues classified as Saint Norbert and Saint Augustine (1908), or a calcined Christ found in the rubble of 1944. Organs, including a Cavaillé-Coll still functional, and canvases such as the Annunciation (before 1620) or the Ecce Homo by Pieter Thys (classified in 2001) highlight its cultural and religious role.

Ranked a historic monument in 1840, Saint John's Church illustrates the challenges of heritage conservation, between geological instability and collective memory. Its atypical plan (longer than the nave, northeast-facing bedside) and archaeological remains make it a key place to understand the urban and religious evolution of Caen, from the Middle Ages to Reconstruction.

External links