Le Havre
Near the waterfront, this luminous and tranquil space houses a fabulous collection of vivid impressionist works 鈥 the finest in France outside Paris 鈥 by鈥
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Le Havre
A Unesco World Heritage Site since 2005 and a regular port of call for cruise ships, Le Havre is a love letter to modernism, evoking, more than any other French city, France鈥檚 postwar energy and optimism. All but obliterated in September 1944 by Allied bombing raids that killed 3000 civilians, the centre was completely rebuilt by the Belgian architect Auguste Perret 鈥 mentor to Le Corbusier 鈥 whose bright, airy modernist vision remains, miraculously, largely intact.
Attractions
Must-see attractions
Le Havre
Le Havre鈥檚 most conspicuous landmark, designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and opened in 1982, is also the city鈥檚 premier cultural venue. One鈥
Le Havre
Perret鈥檚 masterful, 107m-high 脡glise St-Joseph, visible from all over town, was built using bare concrete from 1951 to 1959. Some 13,000 panels of鈥
Le Havre
The Jardins Suspendus (Hanging Gardens) is an old hilltop fortress transformed into a beautiful set of gardens, whose greenhouses and outdoor spaces鈥
Le Havre
Furnished in impeccable early-1950s style, this lovingly furnished bourgeois apartment can be visited on a one-hour guided tour that starts at 181 rue de鈥
Le Havre
This colossal building, built in 1958 to replace one flattened by allied bombing in 1944, was designed by architects Auguste Perret 鈥 that great鈥
Le Havre
When Le Havre's concrete expanses and straight lines overpower you, stop by this lovely Baroque church, which somehow eluded the intense bombing efforts鈥
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Latest stories from Le Havre
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