Le Havre

Allied bombing in September 1944 destroyed the centre of Le Havre almost entirely, and Auguste Perret was given the reconstruction, which he treated as a chance to build a complete modern city in reinforced concrete: a grid laid out on a module of 6.24 metres, apartment blocks with generous ceiling heights and light, and the church of Saint-Joseph with a hollow lantern tower a hundred and seven metres high, lit from inside by coloured glass. UNESCO inscribed the centre in 2005, unusually for postwar architecture. A show flat is furnished as it would have been in 1950. The MuMa museum holds a major Impressionist collection.

History

King Francis I founded the city and port in 1517 as Franciscopolis, later Le Havre-de-Grâce, to replace the silting harbours of Honfleur and Harfleur; religious wars, conflicts with the English, epidemics and storms held it back until the 18th century, when trade with the West Indies made it grow. In 1793 it was briefly renamed Hâvre-Marat after the revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat, becoming simply Le Havre again on 13 January 1795, and in the early 19th century it was France's leading cotton port. Much of the city was destroyed in 1944, and between 1945 and the 1960s the centre was rebuilt in a modernist style to designs by Auguste Perret (Wikipedia, Le Havre).

What's there

• Saint-Joseph's tower - a hollow concrete lantern lit by coloured glass.
• The Perret grid - a whole city centre on a 6.24 metre module.
• The show apartment - a reconstruction flat furnished as in 1950.
• MuMa - an Impressionist collection with a strong Boudin and Dufy holding.

When to go

April to October; the show flat opens seasonally with guided visits. Saint-Joseph is best seen when sun hits the coloured glass. The city is windy and exposed.

Things to know

Concrete modernism divides opinion sharply and many visitors find the centre bleak. The port dominates the city. Some of the listed buildings are ordinary housing, not visitable.

Nearby

Honfleur lies east across the bridge; Etretat is north.

Key facts