Rheims

Rheims, a French town in the department of Marne, is on the right bank of the Vesle, and on the Aisne and Marne Canal. Vine-clad slopes surround the valley in which it lies. The town is strongly fortified by outlying forts, the streets are regular and wide, and there are fine squares. The chief buildings are a magnificent 13th-century cathedral, 466 ft. long and 121 ft. high, with two large towers and a western facade with three portals, a rose window and fine statues; the church of St. Remy, the Archbishop's palace, which the kings, who were all (except Henri IV.) till the time of Napoleon crowned here, occupied at the time of coronation; the Porte de Mars, a Roman relic, since repaired and now in good preservation; the Hotel de Ville, and some fine old houses. Rheims is a great centre of the champagne trade, and has extensive cellars hewn in the solid rock, and there is a large production of merino, cashmere, flannel, and blankets, as well as dye-works, breweries, tanneries, and worstedmills. It is a town of great antiquity, and was in the Roman period the capital of Gallia Belgica.