The Mount of the Sick

The priory of Saint-Jacques was founded at the beginning of the 12th century, at a time when the cult of Saint Jacques and the pilgrimage to Compostela were experiencing significant growth. ( It is now a stage on one of the Norman pilgrimage routes.)

Dedicated to welcoming lepers, it is at the origin of the name given in this district located north of the Rouen metropolitan area, and whose vocation of care continues today at the Belvédère hospital.

The priory’s activities were first grouped around the church that bears his name, then moved around a new building, the Saint-Thomas-de-Cantorbery church, built in 1175 on the orders of Henri II. Plantagenet.

Through this foundation, the one who was then both King of England and Duke of Normandy, attempted to atone for the assassination of the Archbishop of Canterbury which he had ordered.

The Saint-Jacques Church, the priory’s first place of worship, was built in the 1130s. It was to be a parish church from the end of the 12th century until the Revolution. Sold as national property, it is gradually ruined.

The Romanesque nave remains today, with its capitals decorated with animals and geometric patterns, some of which have retained their polychromy. Visible and free to access from the street, it is a charming place open to the panorama of the big city that extends below.