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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Candé-le-Jeune was founded in 1047, when Thomas de l'Épinay, lord of Neufbourg, and Raoul de Tancarville founded it under the name of Saint Victor. This project commemorates a deadly duel between Thomas de l'Epinay and Jacques Duplessis, triggered by a libel defamatory targeting Helvise de l'Epinay, Thomas's sister. The building was rebuilt in 1588 and renamed Saint Candé-le-Jeune after receiving relics from the Saint eponymous. It then extended along the rue aux Bears, surrounded by a small cemetery, the Saint Cande.

During the Revolution, the church was decommissioned in May 1791 and sold in February 1792 to French traders, the Quesnel brothers. The Gothic wooden and lead arrow was demolished that year. In 1824, two 16th century side chapels, as well as the porch, sacristy and abside, were razed. Only remains remain, including the 15th century bell tower, transformed into an electric tower in 1894 by the Norman Electric Society.

Ranked historic monuments in 1954, the remains of the church — facade, courtyard and elements of the adjacent Asselin Hotel (1724) — bear witness to its turbulent past. The hotel, adjacent to the church, undergoes modifications after the departure of the EDF, becoming a residential building. An 1823 print, engraved by Espérance Langlois after Eustache de La Quérière, documents his condition before the massive demolitions.

The original parish, Saint-Candé-le-Vieux, was part of the bishopric of Lisieux and included several neighbouring communes, including Sotteville-lès-Rouen. This place illustrates the medieval tensions between nobility and honor, as well as the revolutionary and industrial upheavals that marked Rouen. Today, its bell tower, the last medieval vestige, recalls a history both religious, judicial and urban.

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