Reims
Cathedral
The Cathedral of Notre-Dame stands in Place du Cardinal-Luçon, in the
center of the city of Reims. On the north side of the square is the Palais
de Justice (Law Courts), with a small bronze equestrian statue of Joan of
Arc (by P. Dubois, 1896) in front of it. With its unity of form,
harmonious proportions and rich sculptural decoration, the Cathedral is a
master work of High Gothic architecture, one of the great cathedrals of
Europe. The damage it suffered during the 1914-1918 war has been repaired,
but much of the sculpture is badly weathered, and restoration work is
constantly in progress.
Built on the site of the fifth century church in which the Frankish king
Clovis was baptized by Bishop Rémi (Remigius) and used for more than eight
centuries for the coronation of French kings, Reims Cathedral enjoys a
very special position in French history. The present building was begun by
Jean d'Orbais in 1211, following the destruction of an earlier church by
fire, and was practically complete by 1294 (the upper parts of the towers
being completed only in 1428). The tower over the crossing which was added
in 1485 was destroyed by fire in 1914 and was not rebuilt.
Palais
du Tau à Reims (photo - right)
In Reims, adjoining the Cathedral is the former Bishop's Palace, now
occupied by the Cathedral Museum, with the originals of many statues from
the Cathedral, 15th C. Arras tapestries and other items from the cathedral
treasury. Here too are the royal apartments, in which the king lived
during the coronation ceremonies
Museum of Fine Arts
In Reims, to the west of Place du Cardinal- Luçon, in the former Abbaye de
St-Denis (18th C.), is the Musée des Beaux Arts, a large municipal
collection of paintings, sculpture, antiquities and applied art.
Particularly notable are 10 16th C. tapestries depicting the story of St
Rémi, a number of portraits (mostly of Saxon Electors and their wives) by
the elder and the younger Cranach, and the so-called toiles peintres (15th
and 16th C. paintings).
Porte
de Mars (photo - left)
On the large Place de la République in Reims is the imposing Porte de Mars,
a Roman triumphal arch (A.D. third century), which served as a town gate
until 1544. It was fully exposed to view by the removal of adjoining
buildings in 1817.
St Rémi
In Reims, on the south side of the town is the former abbey church of St
Rémi, the oldest church in Reims and one of the finest Early Romanesque
churches in northern France. It was built between 1005 and 1049 on the
site of an earlier Carolingian church and was given a Gothic vaulted roof
in 1162-1182. The choir and the west front are Early Gothic, the south
transept Late Gothic (c 1506). The church, which was badly damaged during
the First World War, contains the tomb of St Rémi (Remigius).
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Reims
Cathedral
Palais
du Tau à Reims (photo - right)
Porte
de Mars (photo - left)
