Église Saint-François du Havre, Renaissance church in Le Havre, France

The église Saint-François du Havre is a 17th-century building of mainly Renaissance style, with a classical three-bay porch and three entrance doors, the middle one aligned with the nave. The porch is topped by a small Renaissance bell tower, and the walls are held by buttresses. Inside, a plaster barrel vault rests on Doric columns, while the side aisles have rib vaults.

Begun in 1542 on plans attributed to the Italian architect Jérôme Bellarmato, the church was interrupted by the wars of religion and consecrated in 1638 while still unfinished. The choir was built in 1687. In 1793 the roof and windows were damaged, and Bouvard restored them from 1802; in 1806 the chapel roofs were replaced by a single roof per aisle.

The Capuchin monks who arrived in 1590 shaped the veneration of Saint Francis of Assisi at this church. The Saint-François neighborhood grew around this religious center and maintains its own architectural character today.

The single facade is a three-bay porch with three entrance doors, the middle one aligned with the nave; the 1841 porch and its small bell tower were dismantled and rebuilt in 1955-1956. The church stands in the Saint-François district, rebuilt in a regionalist style after 1944, contrasting with Auguste Perret's concrete centre. Look for the buttressed walls and the hemicycle chevet pierced by two windows.

Four bells were baptised on 7 July 1891, cast by Adolphe Havard of Villedieu-les-Poêles: Cécile-Pauline-Henriette-Clémence-Suzanne in D (1,286 kg), Marie-Antoinette-Henriette-Adrienne in E (998 kg), Marie-Thérèse-Louise-Françoise-Frédérique in F sharp (663 kg) and Étiennette-Emmanuel-Florence-Émilie-Claire in A (373 kg).