Basilica of Saint-Remi | |
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Basilique Saint-Remi | |
49°14′35″N04°02′31″E / 49.24306°N 4.04194°E | |
Location | Rue Simon, Reims |
Country | France |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Administration | |
Archdiocese | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims |
Designated | 1840 |
Reference no. | PA00078785 |
Criteria | i, ii, iii |
Designated | 1991 |
Part of | Cathedral of Notre-Dame, former Abbey of Saint-Remi and Palace of Tau, Reims |
Reference no. | 601-002 |
The Basilica of Saint-Remi (French : Basilique Saint-Remi) is a medieval abbey church in Reims, France (Rue Simon). [1] It was founded in the 11th century "over the chapel of St. Christophe where St. Remi was buried." [1] It is "the largest Romanesque church in northern France, though with later additions." [1] The church has been a monument historique since 1840, [2] and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991 as a part of Cathedral of Notre-Dame, former Abbey of Saint-Remi and Palace of Tau. [3]
The Basilica of Saint-Remi dates from the 11th, 12th, 13th and 15th centuries. The eleventh-century nave and transepts, in the Romanesque style, are the oldest; the façade of the south transept is the most recent. Most of the construction of the church finished in the 11th century, with additions made later. The nave and transepts, Gothic in style, date mainly from the earliest, the façade of the south transept from the latest of those periods, the choir and apse chapels from the 12th and 13th centuries. [4]
The Basilica of Saint-Remi was consecrated by Pope Leo IX in 1049.
The 17th and 19th centuries saw further additions. The building suffered greatly in World War I; the meticulous restoration work of architect Henri Deneux (1874–1969) rebuilt it from its ruins over the following 40 years. As of 2009 [update] it remains the seat of an active Catholic parish holding regular worship services and welcoming pilgrims. It has been classified as an historical monument since 1841 and is one of the pinnacles of the history of art and of the history of France.
Several royal and archepiscopal figures lie buried in the basilica, but in unidentified graves. They include:
Reims is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies 129 km (80 mi) northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. It originated in the Île-de-France and Picardy regions of northern France. The style at the time was sometimes known as opus Francigenum ; the term Gothic was first applied contemptuously during the later Renaissance, by those ambitious to revive the architecture of classical antiquity.
The Basilica of Saint-Denis is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, is widely considered the first structure to employ all of the elements of Gothic architecture.
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French Gothic architecture is an architectural style which emerged in France in 1140, and was dominant until the mid-16th century. The most notable examples are the great Gothic cathedrals of France, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, Reims Cathedral, Chartres Cathedral, and Amiens Cathedral. Its main characteristics are verticality, or height, and the use of the rib vault and flying buttresses and other architectural innovations to distribute the weight of the stone structures to supports on the outside, allowing unprecedented height and volume. The new techniques also permitted the addition of larger windows, including enormous stained glass windows, which fill the cathedrals with light.
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The Basilica of Notre-Dame du Port is a Romanesque basilica, formerly a collegiate church, in the Port quarter of Clermont-Ferrand, between Place Delille and the cathedral. From the 10th century to the French Revolution it was served by a community of canons, regular until the 13th century, and thereafter secular.
Jean d'Orbais was a French architect from Orbais-l'Abbaye, active in the Reims area. He was an architect of the High Gothic style and the first of the four architects of the Cathedral of Reims, where he is depicted in the labyrinth mosaic in the nave. He was responsible for the design of and initial work on the cathedral of Notre Dame de Reims.
Early Gothic is the term for the first period of Gothic architecture which lasted from about 1120 until about 1200. The early Gothic builders used innovative technologies to resolve the problem of masonry ceilings which were too heavy for the traditional arched barrel vault. The solutions to the problem came in the form of the rib vault, where thin stone ribs passed the weight of the ceiling to rows of columns and outside the walls to another innovation, the flying buttress.
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paray-le-Monial, commonly known as Basilica of Paray-le-Monial, is a Romanesque Catholic church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Paray-le-Monial, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France.
Notre-Dame de 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. Reims Cathedral is considered to be one of the most important pieces of Gothic architecture. The cathedral, a major tourist destination, receives about one million visitors annually. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991.
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Gothic cathedrals and churches are religious buildings created in Europe between the mid-12th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The cathedrals are notable particularly for their great height and their extensive use of stained glass to fill the interiors with light. They were the tallest and largest buildings of their time and the most prominent examples of Gothic architecture. The appearance of the Gothic cathedral was not only a revolution in architecture; it also introduced new forms in decoration, sculpture, and art.
Louis IV, called d'Outremer or Transmarinus, reigned as King of West Francia from 936 to 954. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he was the only son of king Charles the Simple and his second wife Eadgifu of Wessex, daughter of King Edward the Elder of Wessex. His reign is mostly known thanks to the Annals of Flodoard and the later Historiae of Richerus.
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