Rue de l'Homme de Bois

The Rue de l'Homme de Bois

The Honfleur audio-guided tour has you take the Rue de l'Homme de Bois, whose mysterious name has caused much ink to flow and still nourishes the imagination.

A name with uncertain origins

Several explanations coexist, without certainty. The most widespread evokes a sign carved in wood that once adorned a house of the street: in a time without numbers, these sculptures served as landmarks. Another interpretation, more painful, refers to the eighteenth century, when Honfleur was one of the great slave ports: the expression "ebony wood" then designated enslaved people, considered with terrible inhumanity as mere merchandise; "Homme de Bois" could be a distortion of it. A local legend, finally, tells the story of a Honfleur sailor who saved a man from Africa. At number 27, a carved face, a recent reconstitution, perpetuates this mystery.

What there is to see

The Rue de l'Homme de Bois charms with its old houses and its art galleries, but also with the enigma of its name, between vanished sign, painful memory of the slave trade and fraternal legend. At number 27, the carved face invites everyone to form their own idea. It is a street laden with history and imagination, to be walked with eyes raised.

Practical information

The Rue de l'Homme de Bois is in the historic centre of Honfleur, not far from the Vieux Bassin. It can be walked freely on foot at all hours; its galleries and shops follow their own hours.

Where would the name of the Rue de l'Homme de Bois come from?

Perhaps from an old carved sign; another hypothesis, more serious, links it to the memory of the slave trade. The origin remains uncertain.

What can one see at number 27?

A face carved in the façade, a recent reconstitution that perpetuates the mystery of the street's name.