Reims Cathedral

Notre-Dame de Reims (ˌnɒtrə_ˈdɑːm,_ˌnoʊtrə_ˈdeɪm,_ˌnoʊtrə_ˈdɑːm; nɔtʁə dam də ʁɛ̃s; meaning "Our Lady of Reims"), known in English as Reims Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the French city of the same name, the archiepiscopal see of the Archdiocese of Reims. The cathedral was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and was the traditional location for the coronation of the kings of France. The cathedral church is thought to have been founded by the bishop Nicasius in the early 5th century. Clovis was baptized a Christian here by Saint Remigius, the bishop of Reims, about a century later. He was the first Frankish king to receive this sacrament. Construction of the present Reims Cathedral began in the 13th century and concluded in the 14th century. A prominent example of High Gothic architecture, it was built to replace an earlier church destroyed by fire in 1210. Although little damaged during the French Revolution, the present cathedral saw extensive restoration in the 19th century. It was severely damaged during World War I and the church was again restored in the 20th century. Since the 1905 law on the separation of church and state, the cathedral has been owned by the French state, while the Catholic church has an agreement for its exclusive use. The French state pays for its restoration and upkeep. The cathedral, a major tourist destination, receives about one million visitors annually. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. The settlement of a tribe of Gauls called the Remes, named Durocortorum, had been recorded by Julius Caesar in his accounts of the Gallic Wars. During the High Roman Empire, it became the capital of a province extending to the delta of the Rhine, and in the 3rd century A.D. was capital of the Roman province known as Second Belgium. The first Christian church there was founded by the first bishop, Saint Sixtus of Reims between 250 and 300. At the beginning of the 5th century, in the Merovingian period, the Bishop Nicasius transferred the cathedral its present location, the site formerly occupied by Gallo-Roman bath built by the Emperor Constantine.