Reims Cathedral

For eight hundred years the kings of France came to Reims to be crowned, because it was here, around the year 500, that Bishop Remi baptised Clovis, the first Christian king of the Franks. The cathedral built for those coronations after a fire in 1210 has one of the richest sculpted façades of any Gothic church, with a smiling angel that has become the emblem of the city. It was shelled and burned in 1914, rebuilt with American money, and given windows by Chagall. Entry is free. What catches people out is everything next door: the coronation treasury in the Palais du Tau is closed until 2027, and the tower visits are guided, seasonal and start outside.

The coronation church

Clovis’s baptism, traditionally on a Christmas Day around 500, made Reims the place where French kingship was consecrated. Legend added that a dove brought down from heaven a phial of holy oil, the Holy Ampulla, and that every king after was anointed with it. From Henry I in 1027 to Charles X in 1825, around thirty kings were crowned here. The most famous coronation was that of Charles VII on 17 July 1429, when Joan of Arc, having raised the siege of Orléans, brought him through English-held country to Reims and stood by the altar with her banner.

The earlier cathedral burned in 1210, and the first stone of the new one was laid in 1211. Its masters — Jean d’Orbais, Jean-le-Loup, Gaucher de Reims and Bernard de Soissons — were named in a labyrinth set into the nave floor, which the chapter had removed in 1779, reportedly because children ran round it during services. The cathedral was largely complete by the end of the thirteenth century, and its towers by the fifteenth. In 1991 it was made a World Heritage Site, together with the former abbey of Saint-Remi and the Palais du Tau.

The visitor’s cheat sheet

What to see, in the order you meet it

The west front

Stand back in the square first. The west front is a wall of sculpture: about 2,300 statues, deep portals with gables where other cathedrals have tympana, and in the place of the tympana themselves, rose windows and glass. The central portal is given to the Virgin, crowned in its gable, which suited a coronation church. High up, above the great rose, runs the Gallery of Kings, 56 statues each about four and a half metres tall, with Clovis’s baptism in the centre.

The Smiling Angel

In the north (left-hand) portal, among the statues on the jambs, is an angel turning to smile. Carved in the mid-thirteenth century, it was beheaded on 19 September 1914 when German shells set the scaffolding on the north tower alight and the fire spread. The head fell and broke; the fragments were gathered up, and the angel was restored and put back in 1926. It became a symbol of what the war had done to the cathedral, and it is now the emblem of Reims.

The nave

Inside, the nave is long and high and lighter than you expect. Much of the medieval stained glass was lost in 1914, and the roof timbers burned and the lead melted; the vaults held. The restoration took twenty years, much of it paid for by the Rockefeller Foundation, and the cathedral reopened in 1938. The new roof was built in reinforced concrete, so it could never burn again. Turn round to see the inside of the west wall, carved with tiers of statues in niches round the great rose window.

Joan of Arc

A statue of Joan of Arc stands in a chapel dedicated to her inside the cathedral, and an equestrian statue of her by Paul Dubois stands in the square outside.

The Chagall windows

In the axial chapel at the far east end are three windows by Marc Chagall, installed in 1974, with scenes from the Bible and from the cathedral’s own history, mostly in his deep blue. More recent windows by the German artist Imi Knoebel, abstract and bright, were added on either side in 2011, a gesture between France and Germany.

The reconciliation stone

Set into the pavement in front of the cathedral is a plaque marking the day in July 1962 when Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer attended Mass here together, after three wars between their countries in less than a century, to mark the reconciliation of France and Germany.

The towers

If the timing works, take the tower visit: about 250 steps up to walk the roof and look down on the city and the champagne country. It shows how the cathedral was rebuilt, from the concrete roof frame to the statues at close quarters.

Tickets and tours

Don’t miss

• The Smiling Angel Left-hand portal, among the jamb statues.
• The Gallery of Kings High on the west front, with Clovis’s baptism at the centre.
• The inside of the west wall Statues in niches round the rose. Turn round to see it.
• Chagall’s windows In the axial chapel, at the far east end.
• The 1962 plaque In the pavement out front.
• Regalia The light show on the west front on summer nights.

Insider tips

The Palais du Tau is closed until 2027, so if the coronation regalia are what you came for, wait. Its courtyard is where the tower visits begin, and its temporary bookshop is open.

Walk on to the Basilica of Saint-Remi, about 25 minutes south, where the saint who baptised Clovis is buried. It is older than the cathedral, far quieter, and on the same World Heritage listing.

Several of the great champagne houses, with chalk cellars cut into old Roman quarries, are a short taxi ride away. Most need booking.

Where to stay and eat nearby

The cathedral is in the middle of Reims, a quarter of an hour’s walk from the station. Place Drouet d’Erlon, on the way, is the main street of cafés and restaurants. Staying the night lets you see the west front lit up and visit a champagne house without watching the clock.

More churches in France

• Chartres Cathedral — its great rival among the High Gothic cathedrals, with its medieval glass intact.
• Notre-Dame de Paris — reopened after its own fire, 45 minutes away.
• Strasbourg Cathedral — on the same TGV line, further east.
• The Sainte-Chapelle — built by Saint Louis, who was crowned here in 1226.

See all the French churches in this guide →