Paul, with its neighboring sulphureous
waters. St. Romain demolished the temple, and dispersed the sinners.
Farin, in his _History of Rouen_[64], says, that the church was
repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt by the Norman Dukes, to some of whom,
the chancel, which is now standing, probably owes its existence. The
nave is evidently of much more modern construction: it is thrice the
width of the other part, from which it is separated by a circular arch.
The eastern extremity differs from that of any other church I ever saw
in Normandy or in England: it ends in three circular compartments, the
central considerably the largest and most prominent, and divided from
the others, which serve as aisles, by double arches, a larger and
smaller being united together. This triple circular ending is, however,
only observable without; for, in the interior, the southern part has
been separated and used as a sacristy; the northern is a lumber-room. In
the latter division, M. le Prevost desired us to notice a piece of
sculpture, so covered with dirt and dust that it could scarcely be seen,
but evidently of Roman workmanship, and, probably, of the fourth
century, if we may judge from its resemblance to some ornaments[65] upon
the pedestal of the obelisk raised by Theodosius, in the Hippodrome of
Constantinople.
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