Reims Cathedral (Notre-Dame de Reims)

Notre-Dame de Reims, situated at Place du Cardinal Luçon in the city of Reims in the Grand Est region of France, is one of the supreme achievements of Gothic architecture in Europe. Construction began in 1211 following the destruction of a Carolingian predecessor by fire, and the main fabric was largely complete by the mid-14th century. The building served as the coronation church of French monarchs for nearly one thousand years; thirty-three kings were crowned within its walls between the ninth century and 1825, the most celebrated ceremony being that of Charles VII in 1429, conducted in the presence of Joan of Arc. The west façade is distinguished by an extraordinary sculptural programme numbering over 2,500 individual stone figures, among them the famous Smiling Angel (l'Ange au sourire), a 13th-century work that became a symbol of Reims after its partial destruction during the First World War. German artillery bombardments between 1914 and 1918 caused extensive damage to the stonework and destroyed most of the medieval stained glass. Post-war restoration, partly funded by John D. Rockefeller Jr., stabilised the structure over several decades. In 1974 the artist Marc Chagall designed new windows for the axial chapel that have become an attraction in their own right. The cathedral was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. The interior presents a soaring nave 38 metres in height and 138 metres in length, framed by clustered piers and clerestory glazing. The triforium, unusually glazed rather than blind, creates an additional tier of light rare among French Gothic cathedrals of this date. The treasury museum adjacent to the main body holds liturgical objects tied to the coronation rites, including a 12th-century Tau crozier and replicas of the regalia. The north tower, accessible for a separate admission of €11, offers panoramic views across Reims and the Champagne plain while allowing close inspection of the flying buttresses.