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Origin and history

The rue aux Ours in Rouen is a public road whose current route is the fusion of several old streets: the rue aux Ours itself, the rue des Maitresses and Rue Saint-André. In 1794, it was extended by Rue Saint-André (or Porte-aux-Fèvres), then cut in 1860 by the breakthrough of Rue Jeanne-d'Arc. Parallel to Rue du Gros Horloge, it connects Rue de la Vicomté to Place de la Cathédrale. His name, attested in the forms rue aux Oues (1433), rue aux Oysons (1574) and rue aux Ouës (1770), comes from a linguistic alteration of the old term oes (" geese"), transformed into a bear by a phonetic evolution poorly explained but attested also in Paris and Metz.

According to a local legend, a duel took place in 1047 on the market square (future rue aux Bears) between Sieur du Plessis and Jean, Count of Tancarville. The death of the first led to the construction of a chapel dedicated to Saint Victor, patron saint of the victors. In 1562, during the religious disturbances, the canons burned the relics of Saint Cande, but a miraculous phenomenon (the flames sparing the relics) led the pope to rename the chapel in Saint Cande-le-Jeune church in 1588. The street was also the refuge of Mr Roland, Minister of the Interior in 1792, and his wife, whose famous exclamation "O freedom, that crimes are committed in your name!" was launched from a window during the Terror.

Street buildings, mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries, suffered heavy damage during the 1944 bombings, including the home of composer François-Adrien Boieldieu, destroyed and rebuilt in the 1950s. Roman skeletons were discovered in 1862 under the way, revealing an ancient occupation of the site. In 1946, several buildings were classified as historical monuments by decree of 5 June, and the street was repaved in 1953 after renovations requested in 1940 by the merchants. Today, it preserves traces of its medieval, revolutionary and modern past, while illustrating the urban transformations of Rouen.

The toponymy of the street reflects a linguistic curiosity: the former French goose (pronounced) was distorted into bears by adding a final -r, phenomenon observed in other cities such as Paris or Metz. This change may be due to the disappearance of the pronunciation of the final -r in Norman and popular French, causing confusion. In Rouen, the word goose is said elsewhere in the local talk, and the feminine irritated, showing a phonetic evolution similar to that of the toponym.

The remarkable buildings on the street include 17th and 18th century buildings, partially preserved despite the destructions of 1944. Among them, number 34 was the subject of a study on social mobility and material culture (Richard Flamein, 2009), revealing aspects of daily life in Rouen. The street, today paved and driven by shops, remains a place of memory where medieval legend, revolutionary history and post-war reconstruction cross.

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