One of the main streets, a tower and a bridge, a museum and a restaurant – everything in the French city of Rouen is somehow connected with the name of the legendary Maid of Orleans –Joan of Arc. The main attraction of the city is the Roman Catholic Church named after her, the Church of Saint Joan of Arc. It was built in 1979 in a modern style designed by the famous French architect Louis Arretche.

This original monument of sacred architecture stands in the centre of the ancient market square –the Place du Vieux-Marché. It is the exact place where the national heroine of France, Joan of Arc, was burned at the stake in 1431.

The complex asymmetric roof of the building, on the one hand, symbolizes the fiery flame that engulfed the brave virgin. On the other hand, it looks like an inverted funeral ship, which served as the «transport» of the final journeys in the Middle Ages. That’s why many medieval temples resemble inverted boats.

Black tiles cover the roof like fish scales, and the church bell is located outside, which was not typical of Czech temple architecture. The main treasure of the church is the huge stained-glass windows of the 16th century, that previously belonged to the old Church of St. Vincent. They distinguish the Church of Saint Joan of Arc from other buildings on the square and amaze every traveler. Thirteen old colorful stained-glass windows depict biblical scenes from the childhood of Jesus Christ, his Crucifixion and Resurrection, as well as scenes from the lives of St. Peter and St. Anne, St. John the Baptist and the Martyr St. Vincent, Anthony of Padua and, of course, the Virgin Mary.

The rest of the interior of the Church of Saint Joan of Arc is simple and restrained: the ceiling in the form of an inverted ship, fish on the walls, as well as a small figure of Joan of Arc, near which the candles never go out. A tall black cross, which can still be seen today, was erected at the place of the burning, and the charming French garden «Le Bouchet» is laid out around it.