Rue Eau de Robec (Eau-de-Robec Street), Rouen

Eau-de-Robec Street is very popular with tourists. Rehabilitated in the 1970s, this street still bears witness to the history of Rouen, its drapers and dyers. Today, it is home to many shops that make this street a pleasant place to stroll. If you pass by Eau-de-Robec Street in Rouen, it is impossible not to marvel at the half-timbered facades of the houses and their shapes and colors forming a charming mosaic.

One of the street's particularities is the Robec, a stream that passes at the foot of the half-timbered houses. At the very top of these houses, many have an attic-stretch. This overhang, located just below the roof covering, allowed the drapers and dyers to dry the pieces they were working on. At that time, the colour of the river changed regularly because the dyers poured their waste water into it and washed their hands in it.

Today, the visible watercourse is artificial because the Robec was channelled and buried in the late 1930s. Each facade is an invitation to curiosity: sculptures, colors, attics. During your walk along the street, you will also discover several small streets and perpendicular passages which are full of mysteries. Often hidden from the view of many passers-by, these narrow streets allow you to spot architectural details, such as in the Passage de la petite horloge where half-timbered houses adjoin an old-fashioned clock.