Reims

Location: Champagne- Ardenne   Map

 

Description of Reims

Reims is a French town which is located in the department of the Marne in the region East Grand . With 183,113 inhabitants (called Rémois and Rémoises ) in 2016, Reims is the twelfth largest city in France by its population. It is, however, that the 29th French urban area with 320 276 inhabitants in 2014 (spread over 230 common). As for its urban unit, it brings together 210,995 inhabitants in 2013 out of seven communes: Bétheny , Saint-Léonard , Taissy , Cormontreuil , Tinqueux , Saint-Brice-Courcelles and Reims.
 
Reims, City of Art and History opens to you with its unmissable sites classified as World Heritage by UNESCO: the Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Palais du Tau, museum of the work of the cathedral, the basilica and the Saint-Remi Abbey Museum, dedicated to the bishop who baptized Clovis. Stroll along the streets, day and night, many sites, monuments and museums bear witness to the history of Reims, from the Gallo-Roman era to the contemporary era, through the Art Deco style. Savor the world of Champagne and its gastronomy. 250 kilometers of Gallo-Roman cellars and piers are open to you. Visit the prestigious houses, properties, cellars through the Champagne Tourist Route. Come vibrate to the rhythm of its animations, shows and festivals.
 
Reims, the home of champagne (the most celebrated and celebratory wine in the world), is the main city of the Champagne area. It is a charming city, and one that the French hold dear to their hearts. There stands one of the most beautiful buildings of the Middle Ages in Europe, one that is filled with history: almost all French kings were crowned there for about 1,000 years. Most of the old houses were destroyed during World War I, and the city was extensively rebuilt in the 1920s in an Art Deco style.

Reims, Épernay and Ay are the main places of champagne production. Many of the largest champagne producing houses, referred to as les grandes marques, have their head office in Reims. Most are open for champagne tasting and tours by appointment only. Champagne is aged in the many chalk caves and tunnels, some originating in the Roman period, located deep inside the ground.

The city centre is fairly small and easily walkable, with many streets for pedestrians only, mainly in the shopping area.

Reims Touristic Office, 6 Rue Rockefeller, ☎ +33 3 26 77 45 00.

 

Travel Destinations of Reims

The most important squares in Reims are the Place Royale ("Royal Square") with a statue of Louis XV, and the Place du Parvis ("Church Forecourt") with a statue of Joan of Arc. The main thoroughfare, Rue de Vesle, crosses the city from south-west to north-east, crossing the Place Royale. The oldest monument in the city is the Gate of Mars (la Porte de Mars), a 33 meter long and 13 meter high triumphal arch (arc de triomphe) with three arches.

 

Churches

The Cathedrale Notre- Dame de Reims
The Notre-Dame de Reims Cathedral is considered one of the most architecturally important Gothic churches in France. From the 12th to the 19th century, the French kings were crowned here. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991, along with the Palais du Tau and the Basilica of Saint-Remi.

The Basilica of Saint Remi (Basalique St.- Remi)
The Saint-Remi basilica, which is almost as big as the cathedral, used to belong to an important abbey. Important periods of construction of the basilica were the eleventh (crypt), twelfth (choir), thirteenth (apse) and 15th century (south transept). The basilica was sacked during the French Revolution. However, twelfth-century stained windows remain.

The churches of Saint-Jacques, Saint-Maurice, Saint-André and Saint-Thomas are less interesting from an architectural and artistic point of view. Only a few ruins remain of the Saint-Nicaise church.

Basilica of Saint Clotilde

 

Palaces, theaters and libraries

The Palace of Tau (Palais du Tau)
The Archbishop's Palace was built between 1498 and 1509. It hosted the French kings at their coronation celebrations. The mighty fireplace in the main salon (Salle du Tau) from the 15th century is particularly impressive. The chapel and main salon are decorated with 17th-century tapestries. The name of the palace is borrowed from the similarity of the palace plan with the Greek letter tau.

Cours Langlet
The facades along the boulevard leading to the cathedral form a résumé of the architectural options of the reconstruction of the city destroyed in the First World War.

Grand Theater
An Art Deco building of national importance, the theater was opened in 1931. The fountain bowls and a bas-relief, wrought-iron banisters with golden masks and a mighty breastplate chandelier under the hall dome are striking.

Bibliotheque Andrew Carnegie
The Carnegie Library opened in 1928 and was named after American billionaire philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who financed the city's reconstruction after World War I. Looking like a small Greek temple from the outside, the vestibule presents itself as a sophisticated art deco jewel. “Particularly noteworthy are the semi-cylindrical shape, which is unusual for France, and the beautiful mosaics and glass basins in the entrance area. About 400,000 documents are kept here.”

 

Other sights

Founded in 1794 during the Revolution, the Museum of Fine Arts (Musée des beaux-arts de Reims), which has been housed in the old Saint-Denis Abbey since 1908, houses an interesting collection of mainly Flemish, Dutch and French paintings. In addition, remains of the Roman amphitheater have been preserved. To defend the urban area, the Fort de la Pompelle was built around 1880 in the municipality of Puisieulx, south-east of Reims.

The museum of the declaration of surrender (Musée de la Reddition) in the Lycée Franklin Roosevelt shows, among other things, the room with General Eisenhower's general staff cards, in which Colonel-General Jodl, on behalf of Karl Dönitz, signed the surrender declaration of the German Wehrmacht on May 7, 1945 became.

To the north of Reims is the Notre-Dame de la Paix chapel by the Japanese-French artist Tsuguharu-Leonard Foujita (consecrated in 1966). The chapel's windows were made by master glassmaker Charles Marq, who also made the Marc Chagall windows in Notre-Dame Cathedral. The life of Jesus is depicted in frescoes in the chapel. Foujita's style is expressly based on Leonardo da Vinci, after whom he also chose his middle - Christian - name. In doing so, he thematically builds a bridge to modernity by referring to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the macabre dances. Foujita is buried in the chapel.

 

Museum of Saint Remi (Musee St- Remi)

Musee de la Reddition

Cryptoportique

Porte Mars

Ancient College des Jesuites and Planetarium

Musee des Beaux Arts

Fort de la Pompelle

 

Festivals

The Clin d'oeil, the largest sign language cultural festival in Europe, has been held in Reims every two years since 2003.

 

Get in

By plane
Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport can be reached by TGV in 30 minutes. Reims-Champagne Airport closed in 2006.

By train
There are eight daily connections to Paris from the main train station. The high-speed train reduces the journey time to 45 minutes.
Most of the long-distance traffic stops at Champagne-Ardenne TGV station, which was created in 2007 and is located 4½ km south of the city center in the neighboring municipality of Bezannes. Regular shuttle trains run from here to the main train station.

On the street
Coming from the west (Stuttgart) via Strasbourg or Saarbrücken and then Metz on the A4/E50.
From Luxembourg either via the A-A31/E25 to Metz and then continue via the A4/E50 or on the A4/E25-E411 to Neufchateau and then continue on the N89/E46 towards Sedan. From there via the A203/E44-E46 to Charleville-Mezières and south on the A34-N51/E46 to Reims.
From Paris via the A4/E50

By bicycle
The Véloroute de la Somme à la Marne runs through the city along the canal.

By boat
Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne

 

Get around the city

While the centre is fairly compact and easy to get around by foot, if you want to go further afield then try the buses. They're very reliable, run regularly, and despite local complaints, good value at €1.55 to go anywhere. If you intend to use them a lot, buy a carnet of 10 tickets from bars, tabaco shops or newspaper shops. single tickets can be bought on the bus but make sure you have the right amount. You can also buy day tickets which are interesting if you take the bus at least 4 times during the day Reims Public transportation website

Taxis are reasonable (about €2 a mile) but you can't hail them and they have to be booked in advance, which can be difficult if your French isn't above conversational level.

With TGV a day trip to (or from) Paris is possible (it takes 45 minutes). Be aware you have to book in advance, but at least you can do this in English online at oui.sncf.com.

 

Learn

Reims has had a university since the 16th century (with a break of more than 150 years). Today's University of Reims (Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne), abbreviated URCA, has existed since 1971 and has more than 21,000 students, as well as branches in Troyes, Charleville-Mézières and Châlons-en-Champagne. There is also the Reims Management School, which comprises a total of four universities and was founded by the city of Reims in 1928.

 

Geographical location and climate

Reims is located in the center of the Champagne region, which occupies the wide, gently sloping eastern part of the Paris Basin. The city is located on a plain on the right bank of the Vesle, a tributary of the Aisne, and on the Canal de l'Aisne à la Marne. To the south and west rises the Montagne de Reims. Champagne is made from grapes from the local vineyards. Part of the Montagne de Reims is part of the Montagne de Reims Regional Nature Park.

 

History

Roman period

The region of Reims has been inhabited since earliest times; Bronze Age urn fields can be found in the area. “According to legend, Reims was founded by Remus, brother of Romulus, founder of ancient Rome. The inhabitants of the region therefore adopted the name Rèmes.” In fact, however, the Celts founded around 80 BC. an urban settlement (oppidum) which they called Durocorter - "round castle". The Romans first Latinized this name to Durocortorum. After being conquered by the Romans in the Gallic Wars, the city was renamed Civitas Remorum and was the capital of the Roman province of Belgica, named after the Remers, the Belgae sub-tribe who lived here and were loyal to Rome. The privileges the city received for its loyalty contributed to its prosperity. A Roman triumphal arch, the Porte de Mars, has been preserved in the city. In 1900, a Roman depot find, the Treasure of Reims, was found south-east of the triumphal arch.

The area was Christianized in late Roman times and the city was declared a bishopric. In 336, the Roman governor Jovinus defeated so-called barbarians after they had invaded Champagne. In 356, the Battle of Reims took place against an Alamannic army.

 

Middle Ages

The city has been at the center of European history for centuries. Around 401 a church was built by Bishop Nicasus; the future saint died when the Vandals stormed the city in 406. In 451 the Huns under Attila conquered the city, but withdrew after the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields (not far from Reims). Between 497 and 499, Clovis I was baptized in the city's cathedral by Bishop Remigius, which was decisive for the development of the Frankish Empire. The importance of the city, which soon became the seat of an archbishop, is also reflected in the fact that it was the residence of a sub-empire during the Merovingian divisions.

In the 8th century, the Frankish king Pepin the Younger met Pope Stephen III in Reims. and later Pope Leo III. with Charlemagne. The first coronation took place in Reims in 816, when the Frank Louis the Pious, who had already been appointed co-emperor by his father Charlemagne during his lifetime, was crowned emperor there again by Pope Stephen IV after Charlemagne's death. Kings Carloman I († 771), Louis IV († 954) and Lothar († 986) were buried in the Basilica of Saint-Remi.

In the 10th century, Archbishop Adalberon was instrumental in transferring French rule from the House of Carolingians to the Capetians. Together with Gerbert von Aurillac, he also ensured that the city with its cathedral school became an intellectual center of the early Middle Ages. City rights have been documented for Reims since 1139. As a major Champagne market, Reims also had some economic importance. From the 12th to the 19th centuries, Reims remained the city where most French kings were anointed and crowned; a conscious link to the tradition started by Clovis. For example, it had a high symbolic meaning when the French, under Joan of Arc, managed to push back the English, who had occupied the north of the country, and recapture Reims during the Hundred Years' War, where Charles VII was then crowned in 1429 could.

 

Modern times

A civil rebellion against the levying of the salt tax was suppressed by Louis XI in 1461. dejected. In the Huguenot Wars, the city sided with the Catholic League from 1585, but submitted to King Henry IV in 1590. in the construction of representative city palaces in the time of absolutism.

As a result of the French Revolution, the province of Champagne was dissolved and Reims was assigned to the new Marne department. Unlike the French kings, Napoleon was not crowned in Reims, but in Paris. In early 1814, the Reims area was hotly contested before Napoleon abdicated. The medieval defensive wall was demolished in the middle of the 19th century. Industrialization gradually set in, and in 1854 the railway reached Reims. In 1870/71 the Prussians made Reims the seat of a governor-general, and the city suffered from high contributions.

From August 22 to 29, 1909, Reims was the scene of the first international flying week, during which Louis Blériot, Hubert Latham and Henri Farman set several records.

 

World Wars and Reconstruction

During the First World War, the city, which had around 120,000 inhabitants in 1914 and was located almost directly behind the front line, was devastated by around 60%, above all by German and French artillery shells and air raids. In March 1918, most of the civilian population was evacuated. On January 17, 1919, the Countess de Mun launched the “Back to Reims” (Retour à Reims) campaign, which enabled returnees in need to get mattresses, furniture and linen free of charge. Wealthy people could rent furniture for three months. The "Back to Reims" campaign also ran four public canteens. In July 1919, Reims was declared a "city of martyrs" (ville martyre) during a visit by French President Raymond Poincaré. Only 25,000 inhabitants were able to settle down again in the ruined city.

As early as 1915, the city leaders of Reims were thinking about reconstruction. In April 1920, the 1919 newly elected government under Mayor Charles Roche passed an ambitious plan by US Army Major Georges B. Ford for reconstruction. The reconstruction (la reconstruction) of the city center took place in the 1920s in the style of Art Deco. For years now, the reconstruction of Reims turned the city into a single construction site, first with the construction of public and commercial buildings and the repair of houses that could still be "saved". This was followed by the complete new construction of entire streets. The reconstruction of the residential buildings was essentially completed around 1930, that of the cathedral only in 1938, that of the Basilica of Saint-Remi in 1958 and that of the bell tower of the Church of St. James in 1994. On May 7, 1945, Colonel-General Alfred Jodl signed in Reims, at General Dwight's headquarters at the time D. Eisenhower, Commander-in-Chief of SHAEF, the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht. The reconciliation meeting between President Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer also took place in Reims in 1962.

The tomb of Edouard Marius Ivaldi nearby is the only surviving individual war grave.

 

Economy and Infrastructure

Traffic

Even in Roman times, Reims was at the intersection of several important roads. The central train station on the north-western edge of the city center, which has been in operation since 1854, is where the main regional train lines, operated by one of the TER subsidiaries of SNCF, meet. Most long-distance traffic stops at the newly created Champagne-Ardenne TGV station 4½ km south of the city center in the neighboring municipality of Bezannes. Shuttle trains run regularly between the two stations. The Autoroute de l'Est originally ran right through the city, less than a kilometer from the cathedral along the Canal de l'Aisne à la Marne, which has existed since 1866. A large-scale bypass of Reims has been in operation since 2010, the original A4 being renamed the A344 on this section. In April 2011, the Reims tram went into operation; the eleven kilometer route network is served by two lines. In addition, there are buses.

 

Science and technology

Reims is the seat of a university. The "University of Reims and the Champagne-Ardenne region" (French Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, abbreviation URCA) was created in 1971 from several higher education institutions founded in the 1960s. It is in the tradition of a 1548 proposal by the Cardinal of Lorraine by Pope Paul III. elevated to the status of a university, but which was dissolved again in 1793. The science faculty is in the southeast of the city, and the humanities faculty is in the southwest. The university also has outposts in Troyes, Charleville-Mézières and Châlons-en-Champagne. There is also a campus of the renowned Sciences Po Paris in the former Jesuit monastery in Reims.

The university hospitals (Centres Hospitaliers Universitaires de Reims), the largest employer in the city, are partly concentrated in a large area in the south, partly spread over the entire city.

Reims is the seat of the aircraft manufacturer Reims Aviation.

 

Champagne

Next to Épernay, Reims is the most important center of champagne production. Some of the champagne is stored in cellars and tunnels that were dug into the limestone rocks as early as Roman times.

 

Military

The large airfield in the northern neighboring municipality of Bétheny was the air force base Base aérienne 112 Reims-Champagne until 2011 and was the third largest employer in the area after the university hospital and municipal facilities. Due to the strategically important location, there are several other (former) barracks, including the Caserne Jeanne-d'Arc and the Caserne Colbert.

 

Sports

One of the oldest sports clubs in the city is Régates rémoises, a rowing club founded in 1854 and still active and successful today. Reims is home to the Stade de Reims football club, which dominated professional football in France, particularly in the two decades following the Second World War (six championship titles and two cup wins for men, plus five national championships for women a decade later). Today (season 2021/22) Stade plays in Ligue 1; he plays his home games in the Stade Auguste-Delaune, whose new building was completed in 2008.

Reims has been known since 1926 for the Circuit de Reims-Gueux motorsport race track, seven kilometers to the west, on which Formula 1 races were also held. The line closed in 1972. Remnants of the route system are still preserved today.

The first official three-cushion world championship took place in Reims in 1928. In addition, the city with its Stade Vélodrome was a mecca of French track cycling, especially in the 1950s. In 2010, Reims was a stage in the Tour de France for the eleventh time since 1936.

A marathon has been held in Reims in October since 1984, which is now part of the Reims à toutes jambes running event, together with a half marathon and a 10 km run.

 

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the town

Jeanne Added (born 1980), singer-songwriter and jazz musician
Albert Batteux (1919–2003), football coach and football player
Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007), philosopher and sociologist
Bruno Bonhuil (1960–2005), motorcycle racer
Jean-François Boulart (1776–1842), general of artillery
Ludovic Butelle (born 1983), soccer player
Claude-Marie-Louis-Emmanuel Carbon de Flins des Oliviers (1758–1806), writer
George Casalis (1917–1987), Evangelical Reformed pastor, Resistance fighter, liberation theologian and university lecturer
Pierre Cauchon (c. 1370 – 1442), Bishop of Beauvais and royal adviser
Léon Chavalliaud (1858–1919), sculptor
Barbe-Nicole Clicquot-Ponsardin (1777–1866), champagne industrialist
André Colbert (1647–1704), Bishop of Auxerre
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683), statesman and founder of mercantilism
Nicolas Colbert (1628–1676), Bishop of Luçon and Auxerre
Baude Cordier (before 1364 – before 1400), early Renaissance composer and harpist
Maurice Couve de Murville (1907–1999), Conservative politician
Laurent Cuniot (born 1957), composer, conductor and music teacher
Henri Dallier (1849–1934), composer and organist
Charles Deckert (1880–?), gymnast
Antoine Dorfeuille (1754–1795), actor, publicist and revolutionary
Hugo Ekitike (born 2002), soccer player
Jean-Baptiste Drouet d'Erlon (1765-1844), revolutionary general
Philippe Entremont (born 1934), pianist and conductor
Didier Eribon (born 1953), philosopher and author
Antoine Faivre (1934–2021), religious scholar
Maurice Falvy (1888-1970), general
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (born 1992), cyclist
Marion Fiack (born 1992), pole vaulter
Bernard Fresson (1931–2002), film actor
Marie Gayot (born 1989), track and field athlete
Pierre Geoffroy (1939–1994), journalist, football coach and official
Daniel Goeudevert (born 1942), manager and management consultant
Elodie Gossuin (born 1980), model
Philippe Haezebrouck (born 1954), racing driver
Henri Heintz (born 1946), cyclist
Joseph-Jean Heintz (1886–1958), Roman Catholic bishop
Philippe Henriot (1889–1944), politician in the Pétain government
Gunthar von Hildesheim († 835), Bishop of the Diocese of Hildesheim
Samuel Koeberlé (born 2004), soccer player
Johann-Joseph Krug (1800–1866), German entrepreneur, founder of the Krug champagne house
Jean Baptiste de La Salle (1651–1719), priest, educator and founder of a religious order
Simon Nicolas Henri Linguet (1736–1794), writer
René Masclaux (born 1945), soccer player
Armand Marcelle (1905–1974), rower
Édouard Marcelle (1909–2001), rower
Henri Marteau (1874–1934), German-French violinist and composer
Jean-Charles Mattei (born 1982), short tracker
Olivier Métra (1830–1889), composer and conductor
Edmond Missa (1861–1910), composer
Marcel Moreau (born 1936), soccer player
Jean-David Morvan (born 1969), comic artist
Alexandre Noll (1890–1970), wood sculptor and furniture designer
Nelson Panciatici (born 1988), racing driver
Jean-Claude Pecker (1923–2020), astrophysicist
Robert Pires (born 1973), footballer
Henri Prilleux (1888–?), gymnast
Alberic of Reims (ca. 1085–1141), scholastic
Michel Robin (1930–2020), actor
Louis-Marie Rocourt (1743–1824), last abbot of Clairvaux
Bernard Roques (born 1935), chemist and pharmacologist
Léon Rothier (1874–1951), singer (bass)
Vincent Segal (born 1967), cellist
Jacques Simon (1890–1974), glass artist and painter
Clément Tabur (born 2000), tennis player
Catherine Vautrin (born 1960), politician
Ernest Vicogne (1888–1975), gymnast
James of Vitry (1160/70–1240), cardinal
Émile Wenz (1863–1940), wool merchant and pioneer of aerial photography
Paul Wenz (1869–1939), Franco-Australian wool merchant and writer
Woodkid (Yoann Lemoine) (born 1983), musician and director

 

Lived and died in Reims

Abel of Reims, († 764), Archbishop of Reims
Robert Briçonnet († 1497), Archbishop of Reims
Brun (925-965), Archbishop of Cologne and brother of Otto I.
Flodoard of Reims (894–966), West Frankish chronicler
Tsuguharu-Léonard Foujita (1886–1968), Japanese-French painter and printmaker; buried in the Foujita Chapel in Reims, which he designed
Henri Germain (1906–1990), football official
Florenz-Ludwig Heidsieck (1749-1828), German-French entrepreneur, founder of the champagne house
Robert Jonquet (1925–2008), international soccer player
Carloman I (751–771), brother of Charlemagne, King of the Franks
Johann-Joseph Krug (1800–1866), Franco-German entrepreneur and founder of the Krug champagne house
Benoît-Marie Langénieux (1824–1905), Archbishop of Reims
Hugo Libergier (1229–1263), master builder of the French High Gothic
Alfred Lichtenstein (1889–1914), German jurist and Expressionist writer
Liutwin († 717), founder of a monastery in Mettlach and bishop in Trier, Laon and Reims
Louis-Henri-Joseph Luçon (1842-1930), Archbishop of Reims
Louis IV (920/21–954), king of western France
Guillaume de Machaut (1300/05–1377), composer and poet
Herbert MacKay-Fraser (1927–1957), American racing driver
Jean-Marie Maury (1907–1994), Archbishop of Reims
Luigi Musso (1924–1958), Italian Formula 1 and sports car racing driver
Philip VI (1293–1350), King of France
Remigius of Reims (≈436–533), Gallo-Prankish bishop, baptized the Merovingian king Clovis I.
Turpin of Reims (before 751–794), first archbishop at Reims
Eduard Werle (1801–1884), Mayor of Reims and deputy in the French Parliament