Honfleur is a commune in Normandy in France. A small fishing port, Honfleur is very touristy and lively, with its old basin lined with many shops and restaurants. Honfleur is a small town in Lower Normandy, located on the south bank of the Seine estuary, opposite Le Havre, all near the Pont de Normandie. It is populated by 7,913 inhabitants. Honfleur makes you discover its unique architectural heritage. With its picturesque alleys, its narrow and slate-covered houses, Honfleur has a historical past which today describes it as one of the most visited towns in France. City of international renown known for the charm of its cobbled streets, its small shops, its charming hotels and its typical restaurants. The Vieux Bassin and the Lieutenancy are the symbols of Honfleur. Honfleur, marina, trade and fishing port is also a city of painters and Impressionism. A source of inspiration for Courbet, Monet, Boudin and many others, this city still contains several dozen galleries and artists' studios permanently presenting classic or contemporary works.
Tourist Office
Honfleur Tourist Office Quai Lepaulmier, Tel.
+33 2 31 89 23 30, fax: +33 2 31 89 31 82 from Easter to June Mon -
Sat: 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., Sun: 10:00
a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., July to August Mon -
Sat: 9:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., Sun: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., in
September Mon - Sat: 9 30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. and 2 p.m. - 6.30 p.m.,
Sun: 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. - 5 p.m., October to Easter Mon
- Sat: 9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. 30 and 2 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Old basin of Honfleur
The old basin is a port located in the
center of the town of Honfleur in the French department of Calvados
in the Normandy region. Its narrow slate houses reflected in the
basin make it the main tourist attraction of the city.
Sainte-Catherine de Honfleur Church
Sainte-Catherine Church is a
Catholic church located in Honfleur, in the French department of
Calvados, France. It has the particularity, very rare in France, of
being built primarily in wood. The Sainte-Catherine church is
located near the old basin, just behind the Sainte-Catherine quay.
The church is dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria as
recalled by a wood carving above the porch of the bell tower
separated from the two naves. She is represented there carrying a
wheel and a sword. The first nave (the one on the left) is the
oldest part of the building, dating from the second half of the 15th
century, built after the Hundred Years War. It was built on the
model of a market hall, where elements used in shipbuilding were
used, all giving the appearance of an overturned boat hull. Then,
the bell tower was erected at a good distance from the nave, to
prevent the parishioners present in the building from falling prey
to the flames in the event of a fire. Indeed, the bell tower
attracts lightning because of its elevation and its position on the
hillside. In the sixteenth century, a second nave was added to the
right of the previous one, the vaulting of which conformed to the
wooden vaults of modest Gothic churches. It therefore has a more
rounded shape and a frame layout, unrelated to the structure of a
ship. In addition, the two naves are extended by two additional
bays. In addition, they are framed by aisles of the same length,
also vaulted in wood.
The famous “ax masters” of the city's
shipyards produced this beautiful ensemble without having to use a
saw, just like their Norman ancestors who can be seen in action on
the Bayeux tapestry and just like the Vikings before them.
The beams used for the realization of the pillars of the nave and
the aisles are of unequal lengths, because we no longer had oak
trunks long enough to build them. Also, some have a stone seat, more
or less high and others, none.
The spans of the choir, taken
again in the nineteenth century, are of rather poor quality and the
roof which crowns them is raised compared to that of the old parts.
The church is partially covered with chestnut wood shingles,
which one dialectically calls “essentes” and which therefore
constitute an “essentage”.
The "neo-Norman" porch was built
on the model of those of the rural churches of Normandy at the
beginning of the twentieth century and replaces a monumental portal
in neoclassical style built in the previous century and which can be
seen represented on some paintings. de Jongkind or Boudin. The south
portal is in the Renaissance style.
Note the classical organ
from the parish of Saint-Vincent in Rouen and the Renaissance
balcony adorned with musical figures. Nineteenth-century
stained-glass windows decorate the choir windows to the east.
The building was classified as a historical monument in 1875.
The building is devoid of a transept and the aisles of chapels
which are only materialized by recent statues of holy figures
including the natives Saint Marcouf and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.