Church of Notre-Dame (Église Notre-Dame)

According to local legend, the church was founded by a woman named Olive who was washing laundry at a beach spring when Vikings attacked. She promised to build a church if God saved her, and when a miraculous storm drove away the invaders, she kept her word and entrusted construction to Benedictine monks from Fécamp Abbey. The spring, now submerged due to coastal erosion, is still marked on old maps as 'Fontaine Olive.'

The church houses a rare 1832 Cavaillé-Coll organ, classified as a Monument Historique in 1993. Aristide Cavaillé-Coll was France's most celebrated organ builder of the 19th century, and his instruments are found in Notre-Dame de Paris and other prestigious venues, making this small-town organ an exceptional musical treasure.

Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie visited Étretat and donated a painting of the Virgin Mary to this church. The imperial couple was known for their fondness of the Normandy coast, and their gift remains displayed inside the church to this day.

The church is remarkably large for such a small fishing village, a testament to the wealth and power of the Benedictine Abbey of Fécamp which oversaw its construction. Built between the 11th and 13th centuries, it was classified as a Monument Historique in 1840, making it one of the first protected buildings in France under the newly created historic monuments system.