City of Kings
Cathedral district
đ©đȘ GERMAN
1 MusĂ©e-HĂŽtel Le Vergeur: this building was constructed in the 13th century and then again in the 17th century. It was rebuilt and restored to its original state in the 1920s and now houses a museum which âtells a personal story of Reimsâ heritageâ.
2 Porte de Mars: this monumental arch was built at the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, north of the cardo maximus. The community of Condé-sur-Suippe is located 20 km away in the same direction. It used to be an oppidum belonging to the Remi tribe, but was abandoned in favour of the current site of Reims (Durocortum) around the beginning of the 1st century BC.
3 HÎtel de Ville: this is built on the site of a Roman house. The building dates from the reign of Louis XIII and features a statue of the king on horseback. It was designed by Jean Bonhomme, an architect from Reims. The building was destroyed by fire in 1917. The façade and roof were restored by Bernard Haubold, while the interior was rebuilt by Roger-Henri Expert.
4 Cryptoportico: this is located at the northern end of the ancient forum (which extended beyond the current Place Royale). Excavations during reconstruction in the 1920s revealed this cryptoportico located beneath the âporticoesâ (colonnaded galleries) which surrounded the forum. It was built during the Pax Romana (around the 1st to 3rd centuries).
5 Place Royale: this is located at the southern end of the Gallo-Roman forum . It is a neoclassical reconstruction (work carried out from 1756 to the 1910s) located at the intersection of the cardo and the decumanus. In the 18th century, the square regained its central role in the city which it had held during Antiquity.
6 Palais de justice: a building was first mentioned on this site in the 4th century. Construction of this building began in the 13th century, then continued in the 19th century. It was restored in the 1920s.
7 Le Trésor: this was built as the cathedral treasurer's residence in the 12th century. It was restored in the 1920s.
8 Cathédrale Notre-Dame: a 5th-century church with a large baptistery believed to be where Clovis was baptised (around 500 AD) was built on the site of ancient thermal baths. Construction of the current building began in 1211. It was restored and reconstructed following the First World War.
9 Palais du Tau: a building is mentioned here as early as the 5th century. It is documented as the Palais du Tau from 1131 onwards. It underwent numerous alterations before being transformed into a classical-style palace between 1671 and 1710 under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart and Robert de Cotte. It was rebuilt after the Great War and now houses a museum dedicated to the history of the cathedral and the coronations.
10 Porte Bazée: this is the remains of a monumental arch built south of the cardo maximus between the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Two pilasters decorated with 18th-century bas-reliefs reinterpret the arch at the side of the street.
âïž Tracing the legacy of Art Deco
1 Square Henri-Deneux: this features a bust of Henri Deneux, the architect for the cathedral's reconstruction (roof structure by Philibert Delorme in reinforced concrete) in the 1920s and 1930s.
2 Carnegie Library: this Art Deco masterpiece was designed by the architect Max Sainsaulieu. The entrance portico featured in the 1925 International Exhibition. The building was funded by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
âïž Contemporary architecture
1 The Jean-Falala Media Library: salvage excavations here have revealed details of how the 4th-century enclosure was built, with its foundations made from stones taken from when the great Augustan city was being demolished. The media library was designed by architect Jean-Paul Viguier in 2002.
âïž And not forgetting...
1 Rue CĂ©rĂšs: the former decumanus maximus which led eastwards towards Trier and the border with the Germanic peoples (the Limes of the Upper Rhine).
2 Avenue de Laon: continued the cardo maximus northwards and led on to the roads to Boulogne (via Agrippa de lâOcĂ©an), Bavay and Cologne.
3 Rue de lâUniversitĂ©: the cardo maximus, which led to the Via Caesare (Rue du BarbĂątre) and on to Lyon and then Rome. This was the main Roman road outside the city walls in the 4th century and featured important Christian necropolises, which were the origin of the abbeys of Saint-Nicaise and Saint-Remi.
4 Rue de Vesle: the former decumanus maximus, which led out of the city and crossed the Vesle River towards Soissons and, more generally, Celtic Gaul.
