Aître Saint-Maclou
Aître Saint-Maclou
4.5
About
Former house used for the bodies of plague victims and current site of Rouen's Fine Art Academy.
Duration: 1-2 hours
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingTours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience Aître Saint-Maclou
The area
Address
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
914 within 3 miles
Attractions
147 within 6 miles
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
579 reviews
Excellent
277
Very good
232
Average
58
Poor
11
Terrible
1
These reviews have been automatically translated from their original language.
This service may contain translations provided by Google. Google disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to translations, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and freedom from forgery.
Patrizia G
Province of Reggio Emilia, Italy426 contributions
Aug 2024 • Family
The moment of Saint Maclou is near the church and looks like an inner courtyard. No bones or skulls are visible so it is not particularly macabre. Inside there is a bar and clubs for artistic use. When I went there was an exhibition of contemporary ceramic crafts.
Automatically translated
Written 10 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
markusdue2018
Hilden, Germany137 contributions
Sept 2024 • Couples
Unfortunately in the rain and thanks to traffic jams just before closing the museum arrived there.
Very nice large courtyard. In the sun, the old trees provide a lot of shade. Restaurants are well located there to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city. The carvings are worth seeing.
Very nice large courtyard. In the sun, the old trees provide a lot of shade. Restaurants are well located there to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city. The carvings are worth seeing.
Automatically translated
Written 25 September 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
johnhouston2
Knaresborough, UK5,345 contributions
Sept 2023 • Couples
When you enter the large, peaceful courtyard of this house it’s hard to associate the present day ambience with the house’s history as a charnel house for the storage of victims of the plague.
The various carvings of skulls and other macabre symbols are there to remind us I suppose but in reality I suspect that most people come here for a pleasant visit rather than to explore history.
It’s a lovely place.
The various carvings of skulls and other macabre symbols are there to remind us I suppose but in reality I suspect that most people come here for a pleasant visit rather than to explore history.
It’s a lovely place.
Written 16 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Arnold C
Lipa City, Philippines353 contributions
Apr 2011 • Friends
Aitre St. Maclou is an old cemetery that dates back to 1348. During the great plaque in the 16th Century, corpses were dumped in the area which necessitates for the construction of galleries where the bones can be stored.
In 1705, St. John Baptist De La Salle, founder of the Brothers of Christian Schools established a school for poor boys in the old graveyard. He converted the bone galleries (ossuaries) into classrooms. Visitors to this place will not fail to notice the adornment on the building's wooden beams which are decorated with macabre, or symbols of death. They have skulls, bones, coffins, gravediggers tools, etc.
This grim background should not discourage visitors because the modern day Aitre St. Maclou is now the Regional School of Fine Arts in Rouen, France. It is worth visiting since it is near the Church of St. Maclou, considered as one of the best examples of Gothic Architecture in Rouen. And on your way to Aitre St. Maclou, you will pass along the cobblestone streets lined with buildings in typical Normandy architecture.
The courtyard of Aitre St. Maclou gives you a peaceful atmosphere where one can do his own reflection about life and how a former house of death can now be vibrant and full of life.
In 1705, St. John Baptist De La Salle, founder of the Brothers of Christian Schools established a school for poor boys in the old graveyard. He converted the bone galleries (ossuaries) into classrooms. Visitors to this place will not fail to notice the adornment on the building's wooden beams which are decorated with macabre, or symbols of death. They have skulls, bones, coffins, gravediggers tools, etc.
This grim background should not discourage visitors because the modern day Aitre St. Maclou is now the Regional School of Fine Arts in Rouen, France. It is worth visiting since it is near the Church of St. Maclou, considered as one of the best examples of Gothic Architecture in Rouen. And on your way to Aitre St. Maclou, you will pass along the cobblestone streets lined with buildings in typical Normandy architecture.
The courtyard of Aitre St. Maclou gives you a peaceful atmosphere where one can do his own reflection about life and how a former house of death can now be vibrant and full of life.
Written 10 November 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Pointer2
Portland, Oregon3 contributions
Aitre St-Maclou is a must visit when you are in Rouen. Before I continue I must add that Rouen was an amazing town. Three world-class cathedrals within a few minutes' walk of each other and other great sites like Aitre St-Maclou, the Gros Horlage, and the site where Jean d'Arc was burned at the stake.
Aitre St-Maclou is one of the last examples of a charnel house. It is wood beamed and was constructed in the 1530s. It was the site where thousands of victims of the plague were buried, hence the skulls, shovels, etc. which are intricately carved on the wood beams. This is a place you would probably spend no more than 15-20 minutes, but is very unique and I definitely recommend it if you are in Rouen.
This building currently serves as an art school, so like much of Rouen, the past history is entwined in it's current history.
Aitre St-Maclou is one of the last examples of a charnel house. It is wood beamed and was constructed in the 1530s. It was the site where thousands of victims of the plague were buried, hence the skulls, shovels, etc. which are intricately carved on the wood beams. This is a place you would probably spend no more than 15-20 minutes, but is very unique and I definitely recommend it if you are in Rouen.
This building currently serves as an art school, so like much of Rouen, the past history is entwined in it's current history.
Written 21 June 2006
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sara V
Punta de Mita, Mexico56 contributions
Sept 2016 • Solo
Your trip to Rouen can not be complete if you don't visit this place. If you don't have your guide get one to fully understand where you are standing up... an untouched place that's been up since the Middle ages.
Written 26 October 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
flaneur40
New York City, NY1,694 contributions
Sept 2016 • Solo
When walking south on Rue Damiette make a left onto Rue Martainville (there is a "Walsheim" restaurant on the corner) walk a bit until you see a garage or carriage house-type opening (it is not the first one you come to; that is the back yard of businesses and residences). You will see a nondescript and unceremonious arrow pointing into the garage opening. Make a left here and up the ramp and you will be treated to a plaza of macabre delights.
Written 21 September 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ProfT
New England996 contributions
Apr 2012 • Business
This is an old charnel house from the time of the great plague of the fourteenth century. When you enter under a very small medieval arch you are surrounded by windows, all of which have skeletal faces marking the 'danse macabre' theme that was so prevalent at the time of the plague. There is also a cat that was buried alive in one of the wall windows in hopes that somehow that would stop the plague. It didn't and the cat is now mummified.
Written 2 May 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LeeF301
Bloomington, IN39 contributions
Apr 2016 • Family
If you visit St-Maclou Church, you should take a few extra minutes to see the nearby parish churchyard, burial site of some 2/3 of the church's medieval parishioners who died of the plague. Located in an art school courtyard, you will see 16th-century wood carvings of skulls and crossbones as well as gravediggers' tools. Not many medieval burial sites have survived which makes this place somewhat unusual.
Written 18 May 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dickd1946
Charleston, SC1,220 contributions
Aug 2012 • Couples
Just a wee bit from St Maclou's church you "might" find this historical experience tucked away. The timbered buildings adorned carved skulls, bones and other similiar themes surround the square where many ended there days from the plague. Different, but worth finding and respecting.
Written 11 October 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing