Nearly 600 years after the heresy trial of Joan of Arc, the city of Rouen opened the first space devoted to this trial, as well as that of his rehabilitation in 1455. Rouen has indeed, in the past, been the scene of the trial of one of the emblematic figures of the history of France, as well as his death place of the Old Market. The Historial Joan of Arc is located in the Archiepiscopal Palace, the site of her second trial. , project led by the Metropolis Rouen Normandy.
The visit
Thanks to the testimonies of witnesses to the life of Joan of Arc, the visitor is invited to relive her trial in rehabilitation, told by actors and projected on screens in different rooms of the palace.
The visitor wanders from room to room, passing from one crypt to another, in the old office or in the attic. The voice of the narrator and rehabilitator of Jeanne, Jean Juvénal, accompanies the visitor during the epic of Joan of Arc in Domrémy, Chinon, Orléans and Poitiers, before returning to Rouen, where the trial of Jeanne is reconstituted. In the last room, the visitor attends the trial and then the stake.
After this 45-minute digital visit, the public can go to 3 different rooms of the Palace, which make up the mythotheque:the historical figure of Joan of Arc, her legends and its political recoveries through the centuries. This is also an opportunity to discover objects related to the character.
The scenography
Through a resolutely modern scenography, the visitor is transported to the time of the trial. The projections follow one another in the first part of the visit to immerse us 600 years ago:the columns are transformed into a tree where Joan of Arc receives her appearances, the chimneys become giant screens and the luminous panels distill information.
This staging is sometimes confusing with the continual videos and projections, in such large numbers that the visitor does not know where to look and may have the impression of missing information. Similarly, the lack of places to sit and the many steps to go from one room to another (and only one small elevator) requires good physical condition, which is not specified before the visit.
The tour starts every 15 minutes, since the cramped rooms do not allow for more than 25 visitors at a time. The passage from room to room takes place according to the previous group, and the acoustics of each one sometimes lets hear in the adjoining rooms.
But these small inconveniences do not taint the imposing scenography which makes us live the trial in rehabilitation, for which the visitor vibrates.
Historial and Rouen
Jeanne d'Arc is an emblematic character of Rouen. She died at the stake at the age of 19, on the Place du Vieux Marché (a commemorative plaque is installed there). Her two trials took place in the episcopal palace where the historial is located, and she was locked up in the castle of Philippe Auguste, of which you can still see a dungeon. Today, this dungeon houses an exhibition which presents the history of the Château de Rouen and the key figures who have made its history.
Rouen, through its history, and now through its places to visit, has become an essential place for anyone wishing to know the detailed history of the life of Joan of Arc!
Historial Joan of Arc, 7 rue Romain, Rouen.