Showing 1-11 of 11 results
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Basilique St-Rémi
Way back in the AD 400s, Bishop Remigius baptised Clovis and 3000 Frankish warriors; 121m-long Basilique St-Rémi is named in his honour. Once a Benedictine abbey church and now a Unesco World Heritage Site (along with the cathedral and the Palais du Tau), its Romanesque nave and transept - worn but stunning - date mainly from the mid-11th century. The choir (constructed between 1162 and 1190) is in the early Gothic style, with a large triforium gallery and, way up top, tiny clerestory windows.
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Cathédrale Notre Dame
Imagine the pomp, the extravagance, the over-the-top costumes and the egos writ large of a French royal coronation… For centuries, the focal point of such affairs was Cathédrale Notre Dame, a Gothic edifice begun in 1211 - on a site occupied by churches since the 5th century - and mostly completed a century later. The most famous event in the cathedral's history was the coronation of Charles VII, with Joan of Arc at his side, on 17 July 1429.
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Fine Arts Museum
The rich collections of the Musée des Beaux-Arts include one of only four versions of Jacques-Louis David's world-famous Death of Marat (yes, the bloody one in the bathtub), 27 works by Camille Corot (only the Louvre has more), lots of Barbizon School landscapes, Art Nouveau creations by Émile Gallé and two works each by Monet, Gauguin and Pissarro.
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Musée d'Automobiles
About 1.5km southeast of the cathedral, the Musée d'Automobiles displays about 200 motor vehicles, most of them French and from the 1920s to the '70s.
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Musée de la Reddition
Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally at on 7 May 1945 in US General Dwight D Eisenhower's war room in Reims, now a museum known as the Musée de la Reddition . The original Allied battle maps are still affixed to the walls of the one-time technical college, now known as Lycée Franklin Roosevelt. There's a film in French, German and English.
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Musée des Beaux-Arts
The rich collections of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, housed in an 18th-century building in which Russian troops were billeted during the Napoleonic wars (1814), include one of only four versions of Jacques-Louis David's world-famous Death of Marat (yes, the bloody one in the bathtub), 27 works by Camille Corot (only the Louvre has more), lots of Barbizon School landscapes, Art Nouveau creations by Émile Gallé and two works each by Monet, Gaugin and Pissarro.
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Musée St-Rémi
Next door to the Basilica, Musée St-Rémi, in a 17th- and 18th-century abbey, features local Gallo-Roman archaeology, tapestries and 16th- to 19th-century military history.
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Musée-Hôtel Le Vergeur
At Musée-Hôtel Le Vergeur, in a 13th- to 16th-century townhouse, highlights include a series of furnished period rooms and engravings by Albrecht Dürer.
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Notre Dame Cathedral
Over the course of a millennium (816-1825), 34 sovereigns - among them 25 kings - began their reigns as Christian rulers in Reims' famed Gothic cathedral. Keep an eye out for the window by Chagall in the axial chapel, and the statue of Joan of Arc, while imagining the pomp, the outrageous costumes and the egos writ large of a French royal coronation.
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Palais du Tau
Next door to the Cathedral, the Palais du Tau, a former archbishop's residence constructed in 1690, was where French princes stayed right before their coronations - and where they played host to a sumptuous banquet right afterwards. Now a museum, it displays truly exceptional statues, ritual objects and tapestries from the cathedral, some in the impressive Salle du Tau.
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Taittinger
Inspect the musty caves (cellars) and dusty bottles of Taittinger, one of eight Reims champagne houses that can be visited on a guided tour. This is an excellent place to come for a straightforward presentation on how the stuff is made - no clap-trap about the 'champagne mystique' here! And for a mere €270 you can pick up your own 6l Mathusalem bottle...
Showing 1-11 of 11 results
