Reims

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Reims
Place du Parvis and statue of Joan of Arc, in Reims
Location
Coordinates 49°18′N 4°2′E
Administration
Country France
Region Champagne-Ardenne
Department Marne (sous-préfecture)
Arrondissement Reims
Canton Chief town of 10 cantons
Intercommunality Communauté d'agglomération de Reims (CAR)
Mayor Jean-Louis Schneiter
(2001-2008)
Statistics
Altitude 80–135 m
Land area¹ 46.9 km²
Population²
(1999)		 187,206
 - Density (1999) 3,990/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 51454/ 51100
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).
France

Reims (alternative English spelling Rheims; pronounced /ʀɛ̃s/ in French) is a city of the Champagne-Ardenne région of northern France, standing 144 km (89 miles) east-northeast of Paris. It was originally founded during the period of the Roman Empire.

Reims played a very important role in French history, as it was the place where the kings of France were crowned. The most famous and cherished of these events was the coronation of Charles VII in the company of Joan of Arc. Thus, the Cathedral of Reims (damaged by the Germans during the First World War but restored since) played the same role in France as Westminster Abbey did in England. It was there that was kept the Holy Ampulla (Sainte Ampoule) containing the Saint Chrême (chrism), which was said to have been brought by a white dove (the Holy Spirit) at the baptism of Clovis in 496, and was used for the anointing, the most important part of the coronation of French kings.

Reims is often considered the capital of Champagne, an old province of France, world-famous for its sparkling wine (Champagne). Today however, Reims is merely the largest city in the region.

At the 1999 census, there were 187,206 inhabitants (Rémoises (feminine) and Rémois) in the city of Reims proper (the commune), while there were 291,735 inhabitants in the whole metropolitan area (aire urbaine).

Contents

[edit] Administration

Reims is a sous-préfecture of the Marne département, in the Champagne-Ardenne administrative région.

[edit] Geography

Reims is situated in a plain on the right bank of the Vesle River, a tributary of the Aisne River, and on the canal which connects the Aisne with the Marne River. South and west rise the Montagne de Reims and vine-clad hills.

[edit] History

For the ecclesiastical history, see Archbishopric of Reims
St. Rémy, Bishop of Reims, begging of Clovis the restitution of the Sacred Vase taken by the Franks in the Pillage of Soissons.--Costumes of the Court of Burgundy in the Fifteenth Century.--Facsimile of a Miniature on a Manuscript of the "History of the Emperors" (Library of the Arsenal).
St. Rémy, Bishop of Reims, begging of Clovis the restitution of the Sacred Vase taken by the Franks in the Pillage of Soissons.--Costumes of the Court of Burgundy in the Fifteenth Century.--Facsimile of a Miniature on a Manuscript of the "History of the Emperors" (Library of the Arsenal).

Before the Roman conquest Reims, as Durocortorum, was capital of the Remi, from whose name that of the town was subsequently derived. The Rémi made voluntary submission to the Romans, and by their fidelity throughout the various Gallic insurrections secured the special favour of their conquerors.

Christianity was established in the town by the middle of the 3rd century, at which period the bishopric was founded. The consul Jovinus, an influential supporter of the new faith, repulsed the barbarians who invaded Champagne in 336; but the Vandals captured the town in 406 and slew St Nicasius, and Attila the Hun afterwards put it to fire and sword.

Clovis, after his victory at Soissons (496), was baptized by Rémi, the bishop of Reims, in a ceremony with the oil of the sacred phial which was believed to have been brought from heaven by a dove for the baptism of Clovis and was preserved in the abbey of St. Rémi. For centuries the events at the crowning of Clovis I became a symbol used by the monarchy to claim the divine right to rule.

Meetings of Pope Stephen II with Pepin the Short, and of Pope Leo III with Charlemagne, took place at Reims; and here Louis the Debonnaire was crowned by Pope Stephen IV. Louis IV gave the town and countship of Reims to the archbishop Artaldus in 940. Louis VII gave the title of duke and peer to William of Champagne, archbishop from 1176 to 1202, and the archbishops of Reims took precedence of the other ecclesiastical peers of the realm.

In the 10th century Reims had become a centre of intellectual culture, Archbishop Adalberon, seconded by the monk Gerbert (afterwards Pope Silvester II), having founded schools where the "liberal arts" were taught. Adalberon was also one of the prime authors of the revolution which put the Capetian dynasty in the place of the Carolingians.

The most important prerogative of the archbishops was the consecration of the kings of France - a privilege which was exercised, except in a few cases, from the time of Philippe II, Auguste to that of Charles X. Louis XII granted the town a communal charter in 1139. The Treaty of Troyes (1420) ceded it to the English, who had made a futile attempt to take it by siege in 1360; but they were expelled on the approach of Joan of Arc, who in 1429 caused Charles VII to be consecrated in the cathedral. A revolt at Reims, caused by the salt tax in 1461, was cruelly repressed by Louis XI. The town sided with the Catholic League (1585), but submitted to Henri IV after the battle of Ivry (1590).

In the foreign invasions of 1814 it was captured and recaptured; in 1870-1871, during the Franco-Prussian War, it was made by the Germans the seat of a governor-general and impoverished by heavy requisitions.

In 1909, Reims hosted the first international Aviation meet. Major aviation personages such as Glenn Curtiss, Louis Blériot and Louis Paulhan participated.

In World War I, the city was greatly damaged. The cathedral was severely damaged by German bombardment and a subsequent fire in 1914. The ruined cathedral became one of the central images of anti-German propaganda produced in France during the war, citing it, along with the ruins of the Cloth Hall at Ypres and the University of Louvain, as evidence that German aggression targeted the cultural landmarks of European civilization. After the war, the cathedral was rebuilt from the ruins in the course of the next 40 years. The Palace of Tau, St Jacques Church and the Abbey of St Remi also were protected and restored. The collection of preserved buildings and Roman ruins remains monumentally impressive.

During World War II, the town endured some additional damage. It was in Reims, at 2:41 on the morning of May 7, 1945, General Eisenhower and the Allies received the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht. The surrender was signed at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) by German Chief-of-Staff General Alfred Jodl, as the representative for Karl Dönitz.

[edit] Sights

Façade of Notre-Dame de Reims
Façade of Notre-Dame de Reims

[edit] Streets and squares

Of its squares, the principal are the Place Royale, with a statue of Louis XV, and the Place Cardinal-Luçon, with an equestrian statue of Joan of Arc. The Rue de Vesle, the chief street, continued under other names, traverses the town from southwest to northwest, passing through the Place Royale.

Place Drouet d'Erlon in the city centre is packed with lively restaurants and bars, and several attractive statues and fountains. During the summer it is filled with people sitting outside the many cafés enjoying the summer sun, and in December it has a lively and charming Christmas market.

[edit] Roman remains

The oldest monument in Reims is the Porte de Mars ("Mars Gate", so called from a temple to Mars in the neighbourhood), a triumphal arch 108 ft. in length by 43 in height, consisting of three archways flanked by columns. It is popularly supposed to have been erected by the Remi in honour of Augustus when Agrippa made the great roads terminating at the town, but probably belongs to the 3rd or 4th century. The Mars Gate was one of 4 Roman gates to the city walls, which were restored at the time of the Norman Invasion of northern France in the 9th century.

In its vicinity a curious mosaic, measuring 36 ft. by 26, with thirty-five medallions representing animals and gladiators, was discovered in 1860. To these remains must be added a Gallo Roman sarcophagus, said to be that of the consul Jovinus (see below) and preserved in the archaeological museum in the cloister of the abbey of Saint-Remi.

[edit] Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims

Main article: Notre-Dame de Reims

Reims is well known for its cathedral, Notre-Dame de Reims, where the kings of France used to be crowned. The cathedral, was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1991, along with the former Abbey of Saint-Remi and the Palace of Tau.

[edit] Palace of Tau

The archiepiscopal palace, built between 1498 and 1509, and in part rebuilt in 1675, was occupied by the kings on the occasion of their coronation. The saloon (salle du Tau), where the royal banquet was held, has an immense stone chimney from the 15th century. The chapel of the archiepiscopal palace consists of two storeys, of which the upper still serves as a place of worship. Both the chapel and the salle du Tau are decorated with tapestries of the 17th century, known as the Perpersack tapestries, after the Flemish weaver who executed them. The palace has been opened to the public in 1972 as a museum containing such exhibits as statues formerly displayed by the cathedral, treasures of the cathedral from past centuries, and royal attire from coronations of French kings.

[edit] Saint Rémi of Reims Basilica

Saint Rémi Basilica
Saint Rémi Basilica

Saint Rémi Basilica, an easy one-mile walk from the Cathedral of Notre Dame of Reims, is named for the 5th century St. Rémy, who was the patron saint of St Thierry, is crowned with a fort of the same name, which with the neighbouring work of Chenay closes the west side of the place. To the north the hill of Brimont has three works educational reformer

[edit] Affiliations

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