Honfleur, Normandy

Photographed in May, 2015 by James Derheim, founder and operator of European Focus Private Tours
Well-preserved town with many half-timbered houses and a large wooden church. Honfleur is located in Normandy, France

The Church of Saint Catherine is nothing less than one of the largest wooden churches in France !
It is unique with its market hall silhouette and its separate bell tower. It sits proudly in the middle of the central square and is one of the jewels of Honfleur’s heritage. Save
Largest wooden church in France
The Church of Saint Catherine is nothing less than one of the largest wooden churches in France !
It is unique with its market hall silhouette and its separate bell tower. It sits proudly in the middle of the central square and is one of the jewels of Honfleur’s heritage.

La Poze
Ste-Catherine-Honfleur church©La-Poze
Dating from the second half of the XNUMXth century, the Sainte-Catherine church replaces an old stone church destroyed during the Hundred Years’ War. It was built by the inhabitants of the city after the departure of the English. Having few resources, they used, as raw materials, wood from the Touques forest and their knowledge of shipbuilding.

It was built in several “campaigns”. The first dates from 1460 with the construction of the first nave, that of the North. With the demographic growth, a larger church became necessary with the construction, in 1496, of the second nave.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the interior of the church received a plaster cladding and a neoclassical porch with Greek columns replaced the original porch. Major restoration work was undertaken from 1929, including the removal of the plaster coatings from the nave and the replacement of the Greek porch with the current porch.

Classified as a “Historic Monument” in 1879, it has attracted the attention of many archaeologists and historians: it is the largest church in France built in wood with a separate bell tower.

(Source: ot-honfleur.fr/en)