Stylistically the synagogue is a combination of Bauhaus and Cubistic influences.

After the expulsion of Jews from France some families of Marranos settled in Rouen in the late sixteenth century. There were several more waves of immigration but eventually most of the Marranos emigrated to London, Antwerp, Hamburg and Amsterdam. By the eighteenth century the Marrano community had almost entirely disappeared.

After the French Revolution a new Jewish community composed of Alsatian Jews began to settle in Rouen. The Rouen Synagogue was destroyed by bombing during World War II and rebuilt in 1950. The architect was Francis Herr. Currently the Jewish Community of Rouen is composed of about 250 families, mostly of Jews from North Africa.