The church of Saint-Jean de Caen is the parish church of the Saint-Jean district in Caen, France. It was classified as a historical monument in the list of French historic monuments protected in 1840.[1][2]
The first place of worship, dedicated to the Apostle John, was founded in the seventh century on a Roman road crossing the marshes of the lower valley of the Orne. This axis, connecting Augustodurum (Bayeux) to Noviomagus Lexoviorum (Lisieux), later became rue Exmoisine, now rue Saint-Jean. In 1954-1956, monolithic sarcophagi made of Caen stone were discovered during work in the church. They testify to the probable existence of a small necropolis along the Roman road and an oratory founded nearby. Of this pre-Romanesque sanctuary, nothing remains.
References edit
- ^ Base Mérimée: Église Saint-Jean, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Gervais de La Rue, Essais historiques sur la ville de Caen et son arrondissement, Caen, Poisson, 1820, p. 256.