Near the Church of Saint Joan of Arc, the large cross marks the site of the stake and the statue of Joan is leaning against the church, facing the place of her torture.

It is in a tower of the Castle of Philippe Auguste in Rouen, long called Tower of the Maid, that the young girl is imprisoned. The remains of this tower are still visible at 102 rue Jeanne d'Arc. The prisoner only went once to the only remaining tower of the castle, the Dungeon of Rouen, transformed into an escape game.

The trial for heresy led by the Bishop of Beauvais, Abbé Cauchon began on February 9, 1431 in the castle. The sentence is proclaimed in the official room of the archdiocese, current Historial Joan of Arc. Deemed relapsed, Jeanne is condemned and led to the stake on the Place du Vieux-Marché.

On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc was burned alive and her ashes thrown into the Seine from the Mathilde bridge. A commemorative plaque recalls this moment on the right bank at the entrance to the current Boieldieu bridge.

At the request of her mother Isabelle Romée and with the agreement of the pope, Joan's rehabilitation trial will be held again at the archdiocese of Rouen, near Notre-Dame Cathedral, twenty-five years after her death in 1431. with the hearing of one hundred and fourteen witnesses.

This is how the installation of a cross was imposed on the very site of the execution of the Maid in the Place du Vieux-Marché near the current Church of Saint Joan of Arc.