Issue No. 18

Reims
The city of Kings has treasures above, and below, ground.
Reims train station is in the centre of town
making it easy to walk to all the sites and
there are many. UNESCO heritage sites
abound here, perhaps the most well-known
is the iconic Cathedral of Notre Dame.
33 Kings were crowned in Reims from 816
to 1825 including Charles VII in 1429,
accompanied by Joan of Arc. It comes as a
shock to many visitors to discover that many
of the sculptures featured on its façade are
copies or casts. Damaged badly by
bombing in World War I, the Cathedral was
rebuilt. It says much about the integrity of
the work carried out that this Cathedral is
still considered one of the finest examples
of Gothic architecture in the world. Statues
of 63 kings, 3m high and weighing 6 tonnes
each adorn the façade. It’s no less
impressive inside where stained-glass
windows dating to the 13th century vie for
attention along-side the magnificent stainedglass
windows designed by Marc Chagall.
Next door, visit the Palais du Tau, the former
Bishops’ Palace, and residence of Kings
whilst awaiting coronation, is now a museum
dedicated to the Cathedral. The St Remi
Basilica which was mostly built in the 12th
century is named after the Bishop of Reims
who baptised Clovis, the King of the Franks
in 496.
Even older is the Roman legacy, the huge
Port de Mars which stands majestically at
the end of a busy road, it is quite simply
astonishing.
A huge area of Champagne itself has
UNESCO status, including Reims, granted
in 2015 in recognition of its Paysages de
Champagne.