Église Saint-Godard de Rouen, Gothic church in Rouen, France

Église Saint-Godard de Rouen is a Gothic church of light beige and grey stone with three aisles of equal height, the central one longer and ending in a three-sided apse. Its nave is covered by a wooden barrel vault with tie beams made by Josias le Grand. The north-west bell tower was left unfinished, and a 16th-century crypt with a rib vault on a central pillar lies beneath the choir and the Saint-Romain chapel.

The church burned in 1248 and was rebuilt and enlarged from the 15th century onward. In the 15th and 16th centuries it served as the parish of the captains of Rouen Castle and their families, who attended mass and baptized their children there. The church door bears the arms of the Brézé family, three of whom were captains of the castle between 1449 and 1531.

The church holds twenty-four stained glass windows from the 16th to the 19th century. Four are 16th-century: the Life of Mary, the Life of Saint Romain, the Gospel Apparitions and the Tree of Jesse, made by Arnoult de Nimègue in 1506 for the Virgin's chapel. That chapel also holds a 17th-century white marble cenotaph with the kneeling figures of Charles and Pierre de Becdelièvre.

The church is located at Place Saint-Godard in central Rouen and welcomes visitors daily. You can attend regular religious services or visit quietly to explore the interior at your own pace.

Saint-Godard is the only church in Rouen with two organs by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll: the tribune organ of 1884 and the choir organ of 1885. Charles-Marie Widor inaugurated the first in 1884. Concerts are held regularly in the building.