Reims is a city located in the northern French department of Marne. It was founded around 80 BC. by the Celtic-Belgian tribe called Remeres. The city became Roman after Caesar’s conquest of Gaul in the years 58-51 BC, and it grew into the metropolis of Durocortorum with up to 100,000 inhabitants in this era. Later, the city was named after the first tribe, and it eventually became Reims. Clovis I was baptized in Reims in 496, who was elevated to the archbishopric. Important meetings were held in Reims, and the first coronation took place in the city in 816, when Louis the Pious became emperor.

Reims maintained its importance and for many centuries and it was here, most French kings were crowned. In the 19th century, the medieval walls were torn down, and this gave an opportunity to new development in the city, where industrialization also gained momentum. Reims was close to the front lines during the First World War, and large parts of the city were left in ruins, so a major reconstruction was undertaken in the 1920s and 1930s.

Today, Reims is a lovely city to visit with a rich history and many sights. You can start a stroll through the city’s streets at the central Place Royale, where there is a statue of King Louis XV. The square is in the same place as the center of the Roman Durocortorum, where the streets Cardo and Decumanus crossed. The current square arose in the 1750s because of plans to make Reims’ streets wider and straighter in order to be suitable for royal visits. They also built a street to the north with a perspective to the city’s town hall, and on the south side of Place Royal the beautiful prefecture was built 1759-1761. Stylistically similar buildings surround the entire square today.

From Place Royal you can walk north along Rue Colbert. Here you pass the Place du Forum, which used to be a marketplace, before you reach Reims’ fine town hall on the Place de l’Hòtel de Ville. The city government acquired the land at the then horse market in 1499 but lacked funds for the construction of a town hall. Construction began in 1627, and the facade was completed in 1636. If you continue north along the Rue de Mars, you will arrive at the square Place de la République, where you can see the Porte de Mars. It is a partially preserved Roman triumphal arch from the 2nd century and the only one preserved of the four gates that gave access to Roman Durocortorum. The arch is 32 meters wide and 13 meters high and was built into Reims’ city walls for many centuries.

Reims’ biggest attraction is the world-famous cathedral, which is considered one of France’s most important Gothic cathedrals. Clovis I was baptized in the church, which had replaced an earlier church. Construction lasted most of the 13th century, and the beautiful facade was completed in the 14th century. Behind the facade with the 81-meter-high towers is a colossal Gothic church interior, and it was here that French kings were crowned up to and including Charles X’s coronation in 1825. Among the cathedral’s many highlights are the rose window and the decoration of the facade with statues of crowned kings in the church.

Next to the cathedral you can see the building Palais du Tau, which was the palace of the archbishops. It was here that the kings took up residence before their coronation in the cathedral, and after the coronations a large banquet was held in the Palais du Tau. Today it is set up as a museum with treasures from the cathedral and the royal coronations.

The cathedral in Reims and the Palais du Tau are both included in UNESCO’s list of world cultural heritage, together with the Basilique Saint-Remi, which can be visited in Reims a little south of the city center. The basilica was consecrated in Romanesque style in 1049 on the site where Remigius of Reims is buried. Rimigius was the archbishop who baptized Clovis I and thereby converted the French king to Christianity after Clovis’s victory over the Germans at the Battle of Tulpiacum.

Basilique Saint-Remi is a monastery church, and historically it was here that the oil used for the anointing of the French kings in the city’s cathedral was stored. You can also visit the Musée Saint-Remi, which is an interesting museum with large historical exhibitions and many interesting finds and objects. In the city, you can also see the museum Musée de la Reddition about the German surrender in 1945. The museum is housed in Eisenhower’s headquarters at the time, and it was the place where General Jodl signed Germany’s capitulation to the United States and the Western Allies.