Cathedral of Light

After the first Rouen Cathedral illuminations show on the theme of Impressionism, Notre-Dame was dressed in a new show in 2015, based on two other themes: Jeanne(s) and the Vikings. Founded in 911 by the Scandinavian chieftain Rollon, Normandy experienced dark times with the Viking invasions of the 9th century. In 2015, Joan of Arc, a mythical figure in French history, retraced her story on the façade of France’s tallest cathedral. Cosmo AV transforms the epic of Joan of Arc and the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, which ceded Normandy to the Vikings, in their own way. The show is free and delights hundreds of thousands of spectators throughout the season. In 2017, the new show entitled “Fiers et Conquérants ” evoked the epic of William the Conquerorrant, the historical context and the courage of this man, who enabled the Duchy of Normandy to become the most powerful and modern state in Europe.

From May 24 to September 28, 2024, the shows are back. Every evening, you’ll be able to admire the free sound and light show Illuminations de la Cathédrale de Rouen (duration 25 minutes). For Cathédrale de Lumière, Métropole Rouen Normandie and the Normandie Impressionniste festival have commissioned the American visual artist, playwright and stage director Robert Wilson to create the show. the creation of a new audiovisual work projected onto the façade of the monument immortalized by Monet. A dreamlike, abstract work, it puts texts by African-American poet Maya Angelou into perspective, accompanied by the sublime piano studies of Philipp Glass. With his Rouen creation, he confronts his abstract universe with a solid edifice, seizing on the history of a city that has suffered, creating powerful images from which emerge the vulnerability and beauty of human existence . This unique show is a declaration of love to human history, in its most moving and complex sense. A monumental artistic event not to be missed. The poems are read in English by the author and Bob Wilson himself, and in French by Isabelle Huppert, who lends her voice to the show in Rouen. Students from Collège Fontenelle and Lycées Corneille and Flaubert also recorded readings of the poems, in English and French, in the Lycée Corneille’s BTS audiovisuel recording studio.

Find out the dates and times of screenings scheduled from May 24 to September 28, 2024: Cathédrale de Rouen, Place de la Cathédrale, 76000 Rouen

• May 24 to June 29: Fridays and Saturdays, at 11:00 p.m.
• July 1 to 31: every evening, 11:00 pm
• August 1 to 15: every evening, at 10.30pm
• August 16 to 31: every evening, 10:00 pm
• September 1 to 28: Fridays and Saturdays, at 9:30 p.m.

A surprise event will bring spectators together in front of the Cathedral to close the Normandie Impressionniste festival on September 21!