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Origin and history

The courthouse of Rouen, formerly Échiquier de Normandie, is a major civil monument of the city, built mainly between 1499 and 1507 to house the Parloir aux Bourgeois and the Échiquier. He became Parliament of Normandy in 1515 under Francis I, then courthouse after the French Revolution. Its architecture, combining flamboyant Gothic and Louis XII style, reflects Rouen's restored prosperity at the end of the 15th century.

The building was severely damaged during the 1944 bombings, especially on 26 August, which almost completely destroyed the Louis XII-style central body. Reconstructed after the war, it was classified as a historical monument in 1840 for its medieval and Renaissance parts, and in 1977 for the Jewish remains discovered in its courtyard, dating from the 11th and 12th centuries. These remains, including the sublime House, a medieval yeshiva, were partially destroyed in 1982 for modern amenities.

The building underwent several transformations, including a neo-Gothic reconstruction in the 19th century by Henri Charles Grégoire and Lucien Lefort, as well as a polemic in 1903-1904 around the Staircase affair, opposing supporters of historical restoration to those of contemporary creation. The interiors, like the Grand Chamber of Parliament (now the Court of Assizes), house Renaissance decorations and works of art, including a ceiling with caissons reconstituted after 1945.

The palace also depicts dark episodes, such as its role as a black depository in the late eighteenth century, where slaves in transit were locked up before their forced return to the colonies. Its architecture, marked by flamboyant skylights, pinnacles and gargoyles, makes it a rare example of medieval civil architecture in France, comparable to the Hotel de Bourgtheroule.

The facades, organized in rhythmic spans, incorporate Gothic elements (arcs in brace, bellow balustrades) and Renaissance (extended windows, bell arch motifs). The statuary, rebuilt in the 19th century by Joseph Brun, represents historical figures such as Louis XII, Anne of Brittany and the Cardinal of Amboise, as well as social allegories. The court of honour, redeveloped after 1836, offers a stylistic harmony between medieval wings and modern additions.

Today, the palace houses the Court of Appeal and the Tribunal de Grande Instance. Its basements preserve traces of the sublime House, reopened in 1976 and partially accessible since 2022. This monument, both a judicial symbol and an urban memory, embodies the historical strata of Rouen, from the Romanesque period to Reconstruction.

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