TAU PALAIS

The Palais du Tau has been home to some of the world's great and good. Just a stone's throw from the cathedral, this sumptuous palace has been the residence of the archbishop of Reims and the place where the kings of France stayed when they were crowned. The building's origins date back to the ^4th century. This medieval stronghold was built on an ancient Gallo-Roman dwelling on the south side of the cathedral. The building was not renamed Palais du Tau until 1138, in reference to the letter Tau in the Greek alphabet, which recalls the T-shaped plan of the building and the shape of the very first episcopal crosses. Following a fire in the early ^13th century, the palace was partly rebuilt, and a two-storey palatine chapel was added. In the ^16th century, the palace was remodeled in the flamboyant Gothic style. Today, the rib-vaulted lower hall, the carinated vault of the Salle Tau (restored in the ^20th century) and a fireplace from Guillaume Briçonnet's archiepiscopate still remain from this period. At the end of the ^17th century, the building was partly redesigned by architect Robert de Cotte in its current classical style. Having become national property in 1793, it was used in turn as a court, a stock exchange, barracks and even a prison! In 1825, it was restored to welcome Charles X before his coronation. In 1907, shortly after the separation of Church and State, the Palais was listed as a historic monument. During the First World War, the city of Reims was severely damaged by bombing. The Palais du Tau was partly destroyed, with only its walls remaining. The building served as a refuge for the cathedral's finest treasures, which were also severely damaged. On September 15, 1914, Abbé Jules Thinot stored the head of the Smiling Angel. In the aftermath of the Great War, the idea of turning the Palais du Tau into a museum was a natural one. Directed by Henry Huignard, then Bernard Vitry, the restoration work was not completed until 1972, retaining the building's ^17th-century envelope while redeveloping the destroyed interior spaces. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991, the Palais is now home to the Musée de l'Œuvre de Notre-Dame, where the cathedral's treasures are on display, along with its statuary and the tapestries of "Fort roy Clovis", which adorn the banqueting hall. You can also admire the^13th-century archbishop's chapel, the ^15th-century nave of Saint Ursula and, of course, the cathedral's ^12th-century Treasure Room.