Right in front of the town hall, from the Royal Square, we can already see the Reims Cathedral.
Many information boards accompany us on the way.
Built from the 13th century in the Gothic style, it is one of the most important church buildings in France.
The ringing of bells welcomes us.
We walk around the building, past the library and take in everything.
The cathedral appears beautiful on this sunny morning.
Kings were crowned here from the 12th to the 19th centuries.
From the side, as a statue, Joan of Arc rides towards the cathedral.
She helped and guided King Charles VII to the anointing and coronation on the throne.
Not far away, a floor slab reminds us of German-French reconciliation.
At the entrance there are huge 4 meter tall figures, there are a total of around 2300 in different sizes.
We enter.
The musty smell makes us feel the past.
Dark, the interior, due to the restoration plans.
The rosettes above the entrance are impressively beautiful.
The largest dates back to the 13th century, with a remarkable diameter of 12.5 meters.
We walk through the old walls, the cathedral is 138 meters long and the towers are 81 meters high.
It was badly damaged in the First World War.
Towards the main altar we find what is believed to be the baptism site of King Clovis from the 5th century.
He was the founder of the Frankish Empire.
Information boards on the edge take us to the special features of the cathedral.
All church windows together have an area of 3,900 m².
Following the path around the main altar we reach the chapel of Joan of Arc, the statue in front of us, the time she once attended the coronation of Charles VII on July 17, 1429.
The glazing comes from the German artist Imi Knobel from 2015.
We walk through the cathedral, again and again looking up at the glazing, we see a Roman mosaic on the floor, moved here in the 19th century, it was found in the courtyard of the archdiocese.
The symbols on the columns are reminiscent of the Templar Order.
The list of kings crowned here reads long.
We took a day tour of Reims.