Reims Attractions

The historic city of Reims (in the English traditional spelling Rheims), the place of coronation of the French kings, the see of a bishop from the fourth century (and now of an archbishop), lies in northern Champagne, some 150km/95mi northeast of Paris on the right bank of the little river Vesle. It owes its fame to its Cathedral, one of the supreme achievements of Gothic architecture.

The city takes its name from a Celtic tribe, the Remi, whose capital it was. Later it became the Roman Durocortorum, one of the most flourishing cities in Gaul and originally more important than Paris.