ROUEN - 1,001 symbols and 39 notable monuments

To look at a city is to walk its streets and admire its monuments. But to truly observe a city is to learn how to read the signs it conceals within its stones.In Rouen, these traces are everywhere-in the medieval alleyways, on the half-timbered façades, in the sculptures and stained-glass windows of centuries-old buildings. Through an original route linking 39 emblematic monuments and 1,001 symbols, Jean-Marie Groult invites you to slow down, look up, and let the stones speak.Step by step, the city then reveals itself like a book of stone in which every detail holds a hidden meaning. You will discover fantastical animals, strange figures, and hermetic or alchemical symbols that builders left for attentive eyes. For behind these discreet images lies far more than simple decoration: an ancient knowledge, made up of small and great stories, mythology, and worldviews, which Rouen still whispers to those who take the time to listen.