Saint Remi baptised Clovis the 1st king of France sometime around 496, making France a Christian relm. Musée St.- Remi is located in the former royal abbey of St. Remi; where the holy ampula; used to anoint the kings of France, was once kept. The building is on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The museum covers the history of Reims, regional archeology, and aspects of military history.
If you are curious about how Saint-Remi became a saint; there are ten tapestries that were completed in 1531 that tell the tale. Here is and excerpt from the the description of the first tapestry:
THE BIRTH OF SAINT REMI (436)
Montan, a blind hermit, has an apparition of Christ,who prophesies the forthcoming birth of Remi. Remi is born and restores Montan's eyesight by putting a drop of mother's milk in his eyes.
The abbey, in which the museum is housed, is attached to the church .
The current buildings date from the 17th and 18th century. The portrait is of the young Louis XV in coronation dress.
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| During Gallo-Roman times Reims was called Durocortorium and was the capital of the imperial province of Belgium and the residence of the Roman governor. |
In the 17th century, while doing road work, several mosaics were discovered. The entire city was walled until WWI when the wall and all but one door were destroyed.
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| Fragments of Gallo-Roman pipes |
The Gallo-Roman artifacts blew my mind; things were pretty advanced and pretty ornate back in the day.
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| We spent the least time in the Military history area. There were some crazy hats. Reims was almost entirely destroyed in WWI and suffered heavy damage in WWII. |
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Saint-Remi's remains are in the adjoining church
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| Reims' winter market was nicer than any we have seen in Paris. |
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| Before we took the train home in the morning, we stopped for some breakfast at a bakery. I had to take a photo of the pigs. We saw similar pigs in November in Vernon near Giverny. Thanks to great babysitters, we had a great trip! |
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