The Romanesque church of Ruan dates from around 1133. From this date until the revolution, the church of Ruan will depend on the Abbaye de la Madeleine de Châteaudun, a priory will be founded there.
The building is elongated in its proportions, one more bay compared to a simple parish church of the same period. This is due to the size of the choir. built to accommodate regular canons.
In the 12th century, the canons had to access this choir directly from their residence through a small door in the wall. (according to the historical study by Nicolas HURON).
The bell tower is a square tower covered with a gable roof.
The portal must not only be described, it must be placed in its historical context and tried to give it an interpretation.
In the first half of the 12th century, intellectuals, that is to say monks or canons, tried to educate and raise the faith of the population through images. Ruan's portal is an educational work tending to show the power of God and the vanity of earthly pleasures.
Romanesque architecture is based on the representation of the earth and the sky, the temporal and the spiritual.
The uprights of the portal represent this temporality, the semicircular arch is a representation of the sky. The door is recessed by what we call herringbone moldings. Behind this technical name there is a representation that we always find around Christ in glory on the frescoes of this period. All the decorative motifs on this portal were probably painted and colorful in the 12th century.