Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims

Reims

Cathedral of the coronation of the kings of France for nearly a thousand years, in memory of the baptism of Clovis by Saint Remi around 496. Each coronation rested on a legendary relic: the Holy Ampulla, a vial of oil said to have been brought from heaven by a dove on the very day of that baptism, which the Archbishop of Reims mixed with the holy chrism to anoint each new sovereign — symbolically perpetuating the link with Clovis. It was in this cathedral that Joan of Arc, after liberating Orléans, had Charles VII crowned in 1429, fulfilling the mission she had set herself. The Holy Ampulla was broken during the Revolution, but a few fragments of the balm were secretly preserved and reintegrated into a new vial in 1825.

Getting there : Free access

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound