France June 2016 - Reims

We arrived in Reims early evening and checked into our B&B.  Rheims -- 50 miles or so east northeast of Paris -- was more of a city than the small towns we have stayed at so far.  The first thing on our agenda was to visit the Reims Cathedral, a short walk from our B&B.

From Rick Steves:  "The cathedral of Reims is a glorious example of Gothic architecture, and one of Europe's greatest churches.  It celebrated its 800th birthday in 2011.  This cathedral is to France what Westminster Abbey is to England."
   

What the Cathedral looked like back in the day.  German painter Domenico Quaglio the Younger (January 1, 1787 – April 9, 1837) painted it in the early 19th century.

Now there are buildings all around it, but in the early days the massive Cathedral must have been the biggest building around.
   
Here from the 10th century to the 19th, 32 Kings of France were crowned.  Joan of Arc led her unwilling dauphin here to be crowned.
 
After Henry V, King of England, defeated Charles VI's army at Agincourt, Reims along with most of northern France fell to the English.  The English held Reims and the Cathedral until 1429 when it was liberated by Joan of Arc which allowed the Dauphin Charles to be crowned king on 17 July 1429.
 
   
Coronation of Charles VII in 1429, by Jules Eugène Lenepveu, showing Joan of Arc at right.
   
Saint Nicasius founded the first church on the site of the current cathedral at the beginning of the 5th century.   Construction of the present Reims Cathedral began in the 13th century and concluded in the 15th century. A prominent example of French Gothic architecture, it was built to replace an earlier church destroyed by fire in 1221.
   
Inside.
   
Stained glass windows high overhead.
   
A model of the Cathedral facade.
   
Stained glass windows made by a "modern" artist.  I don't like them.  I prefer the traditional type.
   
This is more like it.
   
The workmanship and detail on these Cathedrals never fails to amaze me.
   
Although badly damaged in World War I, they have done a good job of restoring the Cathedral.
 
On the outbreak of the First World War, the cathedral was commissioned as a hospital, and troops and arms were removed from its immediate vicinity.   On 4 September 1914, the XII Saxon corps arrived at the city and later that day the Imperial German Army began shelling the city. The guns, located 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) away in Les Mesneux, ceased firing when the XII Saxon Corps sent two officers and a city employee to ask them to stop shelling the city. The bombardment damaged the cathedral considerably, blowing out many windows, and damaging several statues and elements of the upper facade.
 
Fortunately, Reims and the Cathedral were not damaged during World War II.
   
 
   
Scaffolding, always with the scaffolding!
   

That's some serious scaffolding.

Leaving the Cathedral, we walked over to the building where Eisenhower's headquarters was during World War II and where Germany surrendered in 1945.
   
 
   
Previous
Home
Next