Armada Rouen
The Armada Rouen or simply Armada - partly also Armada de Rouen or Armada von Rouen ; all from Spanish armada : " Armada " or "Navy" - is an event for tall ships and other ships that takes place every four to five years in the northern French city of Rouen on the Seine and lasts around ten days. Unlike most seagoing ship meetings, the Rouen event is not held in a coastal city. In the meantime, not only sailing ships, but also warships (including submarines ) and barges have been invited to the Armada, but the tall ships attract most of the interest of organizers and the public. The number of visitors has so far increased from event to event. The “Armada” (2003) attracted almost 8,000 seafarers and, according to the organizer, 9 million visitors. Access to the quays and boarding the ships are free. The last armada took place in June 2013.
Course of the "Armada"
The participating ships will gradually reach Rouen. To do this, they drive the Seine upriver, whereby the larger sailing ships for the three bridges between the English Channel and Rouen ( pont de Normandie , pont de Tancarville and pont de Brotonne ) have to partially lower their masts. In Rouen, the ships reach the Guillaume le Conquérant bridge , which is too low to continue on - except for the participating submarines - and moor on both sides of the Seine.
During the following days, the focus of the “armadas” is of course on the ships themselves, which can be viewed along the quays on the Seine. In addition, numerous events take place, for example concerts are organized on the quays, a “Miss Armada” is elected, etc. Every evening a fireworks display is lit, crowned by the final fireworks display on the last evening. The neighborhoods of Rouen these days are decorated in the colors of the nations of the participating ships.
At the end of the Armada, the participating ships sail down the Seine in a large parade to the English Channel (120 km).
History of the "Armada"
The idea of a tall ship meeting in Rouen was the long-time mayor of the city, Jean Lecanuet (* 1920; † 1993; Mayor of Rouen: 1968-1993), and the alderman Patrick Herr (* 1945; alderman in Rouen: 1983-1995) after one Came the transatlantic race between Rouen and New York , which was organized in 1986 for the 100th anniversary of the transatlantic transport of the Statue of Liberty . They then began to plan a meeting of the largest sailing ships in the world in Rouen on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution in 1989. This first event did not have the word “Armada” in its name, but was called “Les Voiles de la liberté” (French: The Sails of Freedom).
The event was so successful that others followed - initially again for an anniversary (50th anniversary of the landings of the Allies in Normandy in World War II), but now without the occasion of an anniversary. The “Armadas” are so firmly anchored in Rouen's calendar of events today that the new Gustave Flaubert bridge (downstream from the Guillaume le Conquérant bridge ) was specially designed for them so that even the tallest ships pass under them and thus the place where it is built, can still happen in the future.
The "Armada" year after year
Each (new) edition of the “Armada” was originally given a new name, which from the second edition onwards contained the word “Armada”. Only since 2003 has the event been simply called "Armada" or "Armada Rouen" with the respective year.
- July 9-16, 1989: “Les Voiles de la Liberté” (French: The Sails of Freedom; in memory of the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution) - 4 million visitors
- July 10th - 17th, 1994: "L'Armada de la Liberté" (French: The Armada or Navy of Freedom; on the 50th July anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy during World War II) - 6 million visitors
- July 9-18, 1999: “L'Armada du siècle” (French: Armada / Navy of the Century; at the end of the century) - 8 million visitors
- June 28 - July 6, 2003: "Armada" - more than 30 tall ships from ten countries took part, including the Russian Mir and the Portuguese Sagres , as well as many smaller ships from these and other countries, e.g. B. the German Bremen ; 9 million visitors (7 million on the quays of Rouen, 2 million during the parade on the Seine)
- July 5th - 14th, 2008: “Armada” participants including Grand Turk , Amerigo Vespucci , Statsraad Lehmkuhl , Atlantis
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Information according to the official website of the organizers Armada Rouen: Informations ( Memento of the original dated February 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed February 4, 2007)
- ^ Armada Rouen: Information. Keys to success (page 2) ( Memento of the original from May 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed September 29, 2009)
Web links
- Official website of the Armada (French and English)