The front, which faces the south, is composed of a peristyle, supported by four corinthian columns. In the pediment, above the entablature, we perceive a bas-relief, which represents a woman suckling children, the symbol of charity. The representation of this virtue could not have been better placed, than on the front of a church adjoining the Hôtel-Dieu.
The interior of the edifice is composed of a nave and two aisles, at the upper extremity of the nave rises an arched dome, which is surmounted on the outside by an obelisk supporting a globe.
Several costly pictures decorate the chapels. Those which are perceived at the extremities of the two aisles are more particularly esteemed. They are by Vincent, a distinguished painter of the french school. That on the right represents the cure of the blind man; that on the left, the cure of the paralytic.
The chapel of the religiouses of the Hotel-Dieu, is situated behind the high altar.
(For a description of the hospital, see farther on, the article on civil monuments).
SAINT-SEVER.
In the commencement of the VIth century, Rouen possessed a bishop of this name. At first, it might be natural to think that this bishop was the patron of the church of Saint-Sever; but it is not so. The following legend, is the history of this foundation, in a few words.
In the reign of Richard Ist, third duke of Normandy, two ecclesiastics of Rouen made a pilgrimage to the sepulchre of Saint-Sever, bishop of Avranches. The body of the saint was deposited in the neighbourhood of Mont-Saint-Michel, in a church surrounded by forests. A priest lived alone in the neighbourhood. The two ecclesiastics, from an excess of devotion resolved to carry away the remains of the bishop. The priest heard of it and put a stop to their enterprise. They returned to Rouen, and humbly begged Richard, whose consent they easily obtained to authorize the removal of the remains, and in spite of the tears and remonstrances of the inhabitants, they carried off the holy relics, which they forwarded to Rouen. The procession rested at the hamlet of Emendreville (now the suburb of Saint-Sever). Here the miracle, which had already been shown several times on the road, was renewed again, that is to say, the shrine which contained the remains of the saint became so heavy, that it was impossible to raise it, until they had made a vow to build a chapel on that spot; such is the origin of the church of Saint-Sever. Till then this place had been called Emendreville. It retained that denomination about four centuries afterwards; but at last it took the name of the saint, in whose honour the parochial church had been built. The present church was consecrated on the 27th january 1538. Neither its interior or exterior offer any thing worthy of notice.
SAINT-ROMAIN.
This was the chapel of the ancient Carmes déchaussés. Those fathers obtained letters patent on the 27th july 1624. They purchased a house at the entrance of the suburb Bouvreuil; which was then in the parish of Saint-Godard, and laid the foundations of their monastery. The duke of Longueville, laid the first stone of their church on the 20th november 1643, which they demolished in 1678, to build a new one, of which the first stone was laid in the month of july 1679, by Mr Pierre de Bec-de-Lièvre, first president of the Cour des Aides, who untill the time of his death, which took place in july 1685, paid the whole expenses of the building. After his death, his two sons MM. Pierre and Thomas-Charles de Bec-de-Lièvre, finished the edifice at their own expense. This is the present church: it was consecrated on the 21st of december 1687. In 1791, it was dedicated to Saint-Romain, as one of the chapels of ease of the town of Rouen. After having been shut for a time, it was again placed amongst the chapels of ease, in 1802. It is now a parochial church. On the front, which faces the east, we find the following inscription in large, letters of gold: