Église du Vieux Saint-Sauveur, Gothic church in central Caen, France

Église du Vieux Saint-Sauveur is a former parish church on Place Saint-Sauveur, built of pale Caen stone in a Gothic style. Its oldest part, the crossing tower, dates from the late 11th or early 12th century; the tower steps inward in four levels and is capped by a dark pyramidal roof. A flamboyant Gothic choir was built between 1530 and 1546, and the 15th-century facade was replaced in the second half of the 18th century by a classical portal set slightly further west. The church covers 754 m².

Founded probably at the end of the Carolingian era, the church kept its oldest parts, including the tower, from the late 11th or early 12th century, and was called Saint-Sauveur-du-Marché from 1130. A new flamboyant Gothic choir was built between 1530 and 1546. Closed by royal ordinance on 12 July 1791, it lost its parish title to Notre-Dame-de-Froide-Rue, which then took the name Saint-Sauveur; the old building became the Vieux-Saint-Sauveur, a grain then butter market, and its 16th-century spire was demolished in 1837.

The church was long called Saint-Sauveur-du-Marché, after the old name of the square it faces; from 1802 the name passed to Notre-Dame-de-Froide-Rue, and this building became the Vieux Saint-Sauveur. Deconsecrated in 1791, it served as a grain hall and then a butter hall, and in 2024 it hosted the exhibition "Femmes de Bangalore" by Olympe Ramakrishna.

The church stands on Place Saint-Sauveur in the old centre of Caen, a short walk from the rue Saint-Sauveur and rue Pasteur. It is a former place of worship, not an active parish, so it opens mainly for temporary exhibitions and events; check the programme before setting out. The 2024 exhibition "Femmes de Bangalore" by Olympe Ramakrishna was held here.

From 1886 to 1928 the former church displayed the skeleton of a whale that had stranded in 1885 at Langrune-sur-Mer. The departmental bacteriology laboratory, founded in 1897 and ancestor of Labéo, also occupied one arm of the transept.