Notre-Dame Cathedral of Rheims

History

A first cathedral was built with Rheims at the 5th century by the bishop Saint Nicaise on old therme S Gallo-Roman S. Déjà dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, this building accommodated the baptism of Clovis (496 or 498) devoted by the archbishop Saint Remi. In 816, the son of Charlemagne, Louis {{Ier}} '' the Piles '' chooses Rheims to be crowned there emperor. The prestige of the Holy Bulb and the political power of the archbishops of Rheims led starting from Henri I {{er}} (1027) definitively to fix the place of the sacring at Rheims.

The May 6th 1211, the archbishop of Rheims Aubry of Humbert lance the construction of the news cathedral of Rheims (the current building), intended to replace the Cathedral Carolingian destroyed by a fire the previous year. Four architects followed one another (Jean d' Orbais, Jean-the-Wolf, Gaucher of Rheims and Bernard de Soissons) on the building site whose carcass work heavy castings were completed in 1275.

The cathedral of Rheims was described as “cathedral martyrdom” because, in 1914, shortly after the beginning of the hostilities, it started to be bombarded by the German . A remained scaffolding places from there on the northern lathe took fire, making it possible the fire to communicate itself to all the frame. The lead of the roof melted and flowed by the Gargouille S, destroying the residence of the archbishops: the Palate of the Tau. The residents collected it thereafter and restored it at the conclusion of the conflit.

The cathedral was restored under the direction of Henri Deneux, native of Rheims and Architecte as a chief of the historic buildings, with the invaluable assistance of Mécène S American (in particular the Famille Rockefeller). The building site began in 1919 and lasts still nowadays.

The frame of oak, destroyed, was replaced by a remarkable structure, lighter and non flammable, made up of small ready-made units with of cement-armed, connected by keys in oak to guarantee the flexibility of the unit. Deneux took as a starting point a clever system invented by the Architecte Philibert Delorme in XVIe century. Its compactness allowed the release of a vast space, forming a true nave, above voûtement.

Nowadays, the bell-towers have nothing any more but two bells: Marie (12 tons) and Charlotte (8 tons - to confirm). They are not used any more, of fear of continuing to weaken the building, damaged during the Second world war.

Description

The number of statues which decorate it (2303) is higher than that of all the other European cathedrals. The interior frontage, itself, is decorated with small carved figures whose “Communion of the knight celebrates it”. One can observe in particular on the left gate the statue of the " Angel of the sourire" , emblem of the town of Rheims, and that of the Queen of Sheba restored in 2006 - 2007. The building is characterized by a rare unit from style, in spite of a construction which extended on more than two hundred years (mainly at the 13th century. The height of the nave under Voûte is of 38 meters, it is thus quite lower than that of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame of Amiens (42,30 m) or of that of Cathédrale of Beauvais (46,77 m). The general impression since outside is, as for all the churches Gothic S, that of a great dash towards the sky. The two Western towers are deprived of arrows but culminate all the same with nearly 82 meters height.

The highest point is the angle of the bell-tower to the angel located above the apse at 87 meters. The orientation of the cathedral is according to a North-eastern South-western axis. The cathedral is thus directed not towards the East, but in the axis of the Summer solstice, on June 21st when the sun rises to the apogee of an annual cycle. Well-known North-eastern angle to be that of the inaugurations… inter alia. Beginning again cycle, revival of the life. It is interesting to notice that the north of France presents a whole of cathedrals of the S, all dedicated to Notre-Dame, of which the provision points out that of stars of the Constellation of the Virgin, such as she was to be at the time of the birth of Jesus.

With 50 meters of the ground, on the Western face, the " is; Gallery of the rois" with, in the center, the baptism of Clovis. Low, one can observe the account of the combat of David against Goliath and, just above the large gate, the crowning of the Vierge.

Three stained glasses of Marc Chagall of 1974 decorate the building: the Tree of Jessé, two wills and great hours of Rheims.

Gallery

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