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Origin and history

Damiette Street, located on the right bank of Rouen in Normandy, is a public road approximately 130 metres from Barthélemy Square to Lieutenant-Aubert Square. Its ancient layout, formerly spelled " rue de la Miette", offers a remarkable perspective on the Saint-Ouen Abbey, attracting painters and engravers like Camille Pissarro in 1884. Today lined with antique shops, it retains a medieval character marked by its half-timbered houses, some of which date from the 15th, 17th and 18th centuries.

The name of the street could have its origin in the capture of Damiette by Louis IX in 1249 or in that of a local owner. Several of its buildings, including the houses of Nos. 1 to 50 and private hotels such as the one in Senneville or d-Aligre, have been protected as historical monuments since 1958. The street is also linked to the birth of the engraver Narcisse-Alexandre Buquet (1825-1894) at No. 15, and leads to the church of Saint-Maclou, strengthening its heritage importance.

The facades and roofs of certain houses, such as those of Nos. 1, 2, 3-5, or 46, illustrate the architectural evolution of Rouen, mixing medieval structures into wooden panels and modifications of classical eras. Their protection reflects the desire to preserve this emblematic neighbourhood, where urban history, art and commerce have been interspersing for centuries. The rue Damiette thus embodies a living fragment of the Rouennais past, between collective memory and contemporary dynamism.

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