It is an exceptional monument in Rouen. The “Maison Sublime” reopens its doors to visitors on April 30, 2022. Located under the city’s courthouse, rue aux Juifs, it bears witness to the importance of the medieval Jewish community.
A 12th century monument discovered more than 40 years ago
It all started during the renovation work on the cobblestones of the courthouse. We are in August 1976, a construction machine falls on a vault of a Romanesque cellar. Then began excavations that revealed the Sublime House, located under the stairs of the Court of Appeal.
A resounding historical discovery
The work of archaeologists and historians makes it possible to establish that the monument dates from the 12th century and the teams make an important discovery: in the lower room 16 Hebrew graffiti very well preserved and which repeat a phrase taken from the Book of Kings, a biblical work, which says “Let this house be sublime”. It is this discovery which makes it possible to affirm that it is a vestige of the Jewish community – the oldest known to date in France – and which gives the name to the place.
– Coralie Moreau
The second inauguration
This is not the first time that the “Sublime House” has been opened to the public. A first inauguration had already taken place on October 13, 1980. For more than 20 years, the place had therefore welcomed visitors until the attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York and the closure of the site for security reasons.
Practical information :
Visits by reservation on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday during school holidays.
www.visitezlamaisonsublime.fr or at the reception of the historial Joan of Arc