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Reims Cathedral
Cathedral of Our Lady of Reims
French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims
Facade, looking northeast
Façade, looking northeast
Location within France
Location within France
Reims Cathedral
Location in France
49°15′13″N 4°2′3″E / 49.25361°N 4.03417°E / 49.25361; 4.03417
Location Place du Cardinal Luçon, 51100
Reims, France
Country  France
Denomination Roman Catholic
History
Status Cathedral
Dedication Our Lady of Reims
Architecture
Functional status Active
Architect(s) Jean d'Orbais
Jean-le-Loup
Gaucher of Reims
Bernard de Soissons
Architectural type Church
Style French Gothic
Years built 1211–1345
Groundbreaking 1211 (1211)
Completed 1275 (1275)
Specifications
Length 149.17 m (489.4 ft)
Floor area 6,650 m2 (71,600 sq ft)
Number of towers 2
Tower height 81 m (266 ft)
Bells 2 (in south tower)
Administration
Archdiocese Reims (Seat)

Notre Dame de Reims is a cathedral in Reims. It was built in the 13th century. It is not as old as Notre-Dame de Paris or Notre-Dame de Chartres. The building process started in 1211. Most of the works were done in 1275. It was built before the Cathedrals of Strasbourg, Amiens and Beauvais, which are also called Notre Dame.

The cathedral is one of the best examples of Gothic architecture. It has been a World Heritage Site since 1991. In 2006, about 1.5 million people visited it.

The Kings of France were crowned in this cathedral. The last coronation ceremony was that of Charles X of France in 1825.

Interior

Cathédrale de Reims — Nef
Nave

The interior of the cathedral is 138.75 m (about 455 ft) long, 30 m (approx. 98 feet) wide in the nave, and 38 m (about 125 feet) high in the centre. It comprises a nave with aisles, transepts with aisles, a choir with double aisles, and an apse with ambulatory and radiating chapels. It has interesting stained glass ranging from the 13th to the 20th century. The rose window over the main portal and the gallery beneath are of rare magnificence.

Cathédrale de Reims — Collatéral nord
North aisle

The cathedral possesses fine tapestries. Of these the most important series is that presented by Robert de Lenoncourt, archbishop under François I (1515–1547), representing the life of the Virgin. They are now to be seen in the former bishop's palace, the Palace of Tau. The north transept contains a fine organ in a flamboyant Gothic case. The choir clock is ornamented with curious mechanical figures. Marc Chagall designed the stained glass installed in 1974 in the axis of the apse.

The treasury, kept in the Palace of Tau, includes many precious objects, among which is the Sainte Ampoule, or holy flask, the successor of the ancient one that contained the oil with which French kings were anointed, which was broken during the French Revolution, a fragment of which the present Ampoule contains.

800th anniversary

In 2011, the city of Reims celebrated the cathedral's 800th anniversary. The celebrations ran from 6 May to 23 October. Concerts, street performances, exhibitions, conferences, and a series of evening light shows highlighted the cathedral and its 800th anniversary. In addition, six new stained glass windows designed by Imi Knoebel, a German artist, were inaugurated on June 25, 2011. The six windows cover an area of 128 square meters (1,380 sq ft) and are positioned on both sides of the Chagall windows in the apse of the cathedral.

Images for kids

  • Baptême de Clovis

    The baptism of Clovis by a Gothic artist (14th c.)

  • Chlodwigs taufe

    The baptism of Clovis by the Master of Saint Giles (16th c.)

  • Tombeau d'hincmar détruit en 1793 l'Eglise investi l'evek couronnmt à droite

    An image of the Carolingian cathedral on the tomb of Archbishop Hincmar (9th century), destroyed in 1793

  • Sceau et contre sceau cathédrale reims

    Seal of the cathedral, showing how it appeared in the 12th century

  • Edouard III assiègeant Reims

    Edward III of England besieges Reims with cannons in the Reims Campaign of the Hundred Years' War. The cathedral is visible in the background.

  • Jeanne d'Arc - Panthéon III

    Coronation of Charles VII in 1429, by Jules Eugène Lenepveu, showing Joan of Arc at right.

  • Reims - Sacres royaux (14)

    Coronation of Louis XIII, October 17, 1610

  • ProcessionOfLouisXIVAfterHisCoronatin

    Coronation procession of Louis XV (1724)

  • Reims - Sacres royaux (12)

    Coronation of Louis XVI (1775)

  • Coronation of Charles X of France by François Gérard, circa 1827

    Coronation of Charles X of France at Reims in 1825 by François Gérard

  • La Cathédrale de Reims (bgw17 0594)

    Reims Cathedral under restoration in 1845, by Adrien Dauzats

  • Cathédrale de Reims en 1914

    The cathedral after bombardment (1914)

  • Cathédrale reims 1007139

    The cathedral, without its roof, after the bombardment

  • Image from page 59 of "Rheims and the battles for its possession" (1920)

    Interior of the cathedral after the bombardment

  • ReimsCathedral0116

    Apse (left), transept (centre), nave and west front (right)

  • Carte congrés archéo reims bmr 9

    Plan of the Cathedral

  • FR-51-Reims4

    West façade and portals

  • ReimsCattedraleEsternoBattesimoClodoveo

    Gallery of kings

  • Reims-116-Kathedrale-Rosette-1981-gje

    Central portal and rose window

  • Reims - South portal - right 1 of 2 - Simon, John-the-Baptiste, Isaiah

    Sculpture of the south portal - Simon, John the Baptist, and Isaiah

  • Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims 70

    Sculpture over the central portal: the crowning of the Virgin Mary

  • Reims Cathedral - Central doorway

    Embrasement of the north portal, including the Smiling Angel next to the Virgin Mary

  • Reims Cathedral, exterior (3)

    The towers of the west facade

  • Cathédrale ND de Reims - tour nord (7)

    Detail of the north tower

  • ReimsCathedral 25

    Detail of south tower

  • Reims cathedral north portal

    Portal of the north transept

  • North Transept of Reims Cathedral and Rue de Préau 20140306 21

    The North Transept

  • Reims (51) Cathédrale N.D. Façade sud 03

    The south transept

  • Top of the transept of Reims cathedral from south

    The flamboyant pignon of the south transept, with statue of a Sagittarius on top

  • Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims, South Facade 20140306 1

    South facade

  • Reims Cathedral, exterior (9)

    Buttresses on the north side of the nave support the upper walls

  • Nef Côté Nord Cathédrale de Reims 210608 1

    Detail of the north roofline

  • Ange 12 douze 5272

    An angel decorating the apse

  • Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims 91

    The apse

  • Cathédrale ND de Reims - flèche (04)

    The flèche over the apse

  • Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims 85

    John the Baptist, Isaiah and David, reverse of West Facade

  • F3414 Reims cathedrale rosace et portail central interieur rwk

    Sculpture on the reverse of the West Facade

  • Communion du chevalier Reims

    The Communion of the Knight, on the reverse of West Facade

  • Reims Notre Dame column detail - horse chestnut

    Capitals of the clustered columns, here modelled after the leaves of sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus).

  • PA00078776-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims 1

    Nave, looking east toward the choir

  • Reims Cathedral, interior (4)

    Four-part rib vaults of the nave

  • Reims Cathédrale Notre-Dame Innen Nördliche Rosette & Orgel 1

    The north transept, with the cathedral organ

  • La pompeuse et magnifique cérémonie du sacre du roy Louis XIV – Gallica bpt6k15187209 f23 Seconde planche- Le roi est sacré par l'évêque de Soissons

    The Coronation of Louis XIV in the transept of the cathedral (1654)

  • Reims Cathédrale Notre-Dame Innen Südliches Querschiff 1

    Interior of the south transept, with rose window

  • Reims Cathédrale Notre-Dame Innen Hochaltar

    The main altar, in the transept (copy of 1747 altar)

  • Reims, cathedral, the astronomical clock

    The 14th-century astronomical clock in the north transept

  • Autel des apôtres 8651

    Retable in the Rosary Chapel, south transept (16th c.)

  • Galerie du choeur de la cathédrale de Reims

    The gallery of the choir and radiating chapels

  • Statue banniere jeanne d'arC 1004957

    The statue of Joan of Arc in the chapel of her name

  • Autel épiphanie 8954

    The retable and altar in the axial chapel

  • Orgue Cathédrale de Reims

    Grand organ in the north transept

  • Ange droit orgue 04381

    Decoration of the grand organ

  • F3410 Reims cathedrale orgue rwk

    Organ of the choir

  • ND de Reims (rosace occidentale)

    West portal rose window

  • Reims Cathédrale Notre-Dame Innen Rosette 3

    Detail of the west rose window

  • Vitrail Evêque Cathédrale de Reims 100208 1

    13th-century nave window representing a bishop

  • Reims, Große Fensterrose West

    North transept rose window

  • Reims Cathédrale Notre-Dame Innen Südliche Rosette 2

    South transept rose window

  • Vitraux - Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims

    Windows celebrating the monk Dom Perignon and the local French champagne industry

  • Transept sud RDC 04794

    Abstract grisaille window by Brigitte Simon

  • Reims ND3 tango7174

    Windows of the three high bays of the axial chapel

  • Reims Cathédrale Notre-Dame Innen Axialkapelle Kapellenfenster

    Windows by Marc Chagall in the Axial chapel

  • Henri de Braine, archibishop

    Archbishop Henri de Braine, in the axial chapel

  • Où paissent les brebis 04221

    Bride meets the groom, in the "Song of Songs" Tapestry (16th century)

  • Palais du Tau et cathédrale

    The Palace of Tau, or archiepiscopal palace, with its chapel on the right

  • Anne et Marie 04260

    Tapestry from the Life of the Virgin Series (16th century)

  • Talisman de Charlemagne 6032

    The talisman of Charlemagne (12th century)

  • Calice du sacre Tau

    The chalice of Saint Remigius, used at French coronations (12th and 19th c.)

  • Reliquaire de Ste Ursule Tau

    Detail of the reliquary of Saint Ursula (16th century)

  • Domenico Quaglio (1787 - 1837), Die Kathedrale von Reims

    The Cathedral of Reims, by Domenico Quaglio the Younger

  • Cathédrale de Reims — Tour nord

    North tower

  • Reims Cathedrale Notre Dame interior 002

    Rose windows, west end

  • Cathedrale de Reims 1

    Interior view, west rose

  • Cathédrale de Reims — Orgue

    Organ

  • Cathédrale de Reims — Autel central

    Central altar

  • Cathédrale de Reims — Vitrail ouest du collatéral nord

    Stained-glass at the west end of the northern aisle

  • Rêve de couleurs 122

    The Cathedral of Reims at night Rêve de couleurs

  • Carillon cathédrale de reims 057

    Roof details

  • Reimscathedralecharpente

    Support structure of the roof

  • Remi Clovis Reims

    Paving stone in cathedral nave commemorating baptism of Clovis by Saint Remi

  • Reims Cathedral-1

    Main gate

  • Reims Cathedral-2

    Golden eagle

  • VillardButtressReims

    Villard de Honnecourt's drawing of a flying buttress at Reims, ca. 1230s (Bibliothèque nationale)

  • Pinacle.cathedrale.Reims

    Flying buttress with pinnacle and a statue

  • Reims Notre Dame English marker

    Marker in memory of World War I

  • CathedraleReimsGargouille0001 01

    Gargoyle on the west facade

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Catedral de Reims para niños

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