It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from Le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie.

There have been many notable artists, including, Gustave Courbet, Eugène Boudin, Claude Monet and Johan Jongkind.

Located on the estuary of one of the principal rivers of France with a safe harbour and relatively rich hinterland, Honfleur profited from its strategic position from the start of the Hundred Years' War.

When under French control, raiding parties often set out from the port to ransack the English coasts, including partially destroying the town of Sandwich, in Kent, England, in the 1450s.

[8] But according to its numerous old mentions and those of Barfleur in -fleth, it is more probably the OE flēot 'run of water',[9][6] that can be found in the English place-names in -fleet, such as Adlingfleet, Marfleet, Ousefleet, combined very often with a male's name.

The element Hon- seems to come from an Anglo-Saxon (or Anglo-Scandinavian) given name Huna[5] or the Norse Húni, variant form Húnn,[6] which is also found close to Honfleur in Honnaville, homonym of the Honneville at Saint-Georges-du-Mesnil.

It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine, across from Le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie (nicknamed by the locals "Honfleur bridge").

The town is at the eastern extremity of the 40 km (25 mi) coastline called the Côte Fleurie (Flowery Coast).

Like most of northern France, Honfleur has an oceanic climate with warm summers, cool winters, rain all year round and few extremes of temperature.

The church is dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria as evidenced by a wooden sculpture above the porch of the bell tower which separates the two naves.

The first nave is the oldest part of the building, dating to the second half of the 15th century, constructed right after the Hundred Years' War.

[15] The famous "Axe masters" of the naval yards of the city created this building[15] without using any saws, just like their Norman ancestors (who can be seen in action in the Bayeux Tapestry), and like the Vikings before them.

The beams used to create the pillars of the nave and the side walls are of unequal length, because there were no oak trees long enough to construct them uniformly.

The neo-Norman porch was built following the model of rural Normandy churches in the 1920s,[15] and replaced a monumental doorway in neo-classical style from the previous century (which can be seen in certain canvases by Jongkind and Boudin).