This edifice adjoins the Cathedral church. The principal body of the
building, which faces the street, was begun and partly finished in
1461, by the cardinal d'Estouteville; but death overtook this prelate
before he had completed the whole. It does not appear that his
successor, Robert de Croixmare, continued the works. It was, according
to Farin, the cardinal George d'Amboise Ist, who terminated the
edifice. The only remarkable portion of the interior of this edifice is
that named the _gallery of the states_. It is decorated with four large
paintings by Robert. They represent views of Havre, Dieppe, Rouen and
Gaillon, the once celebrated chateau of the archbishops of Rouen, and
built by the cardinal d'Amboise Ist, with the savings which he made
from his salary, from the profits of his legation, and from the large
fines which he levied, with the knowledge of the king, on the rebel
towns of Italy.
In 1508, when Lewis XIIth with his queen came to Rouen, he alighted at
the archiepiscopal palace. The dauphin Francis of Valois, son of
Francis Ist, inhabited it also in 1531.
The modern building which looks on the garden, and which is to the right
on entering, was erected at the commencement of the last century. The
library, which is appropriated to the chapter of the cathedral, is
situated on the first floor.