France - Honfleur, Église Sainte Catharine

Église Sainte Catherine (Sainte Catherine Church) is one of Honfleur's most important monuments. The church was built in the 15th century to replace a stone church that was destroyed by the English during the Hundred Years' War.

The church was built by the town's inhabitants after the war. As few resources were available, carpenters and ship wrights used wood from a nearby forest and their knowledge of shipbuilding. The first nave, the oldest part of the building, dates from the second half of the 15th century. It is built on the model of a market hall with an impressive ceiling resembling the inverted hull of a ship.

The Sainte Catherine Church is the largest wooden church in France. The bell tower was built separate from the nave, a choice made to reduce the risk of fire. It has a square frame on a stone base, is coated with shingles and topped by an octagonal pyramid. In 1718, 'crutches' were put in place to support the bell tower.

The building was listed as a historical monument in 1870.