MUSÉE HISTORIQUE SAINT-REMI - ROYAL ABBEY

Located in the buildings of the former royal abbey of Saint-Remi, classified as a World Heritage Site in 1991 by UNESCO, this museum allows visitors to discover the history of the abbey but also the Gallo-Roman past of the city, its military history and the regional archaeology. Four sections take visitors through different rooms. In the refectories and the kitchen of the abbey, we discover Durocorturum, capital of the Roman imperial province of Belgium. On the second floor, Prehistory, Protohistory, Gallo-Roman craftsmanship and medieval collections from the Merovingian period to the 16th century are shown in seven rooms.

Visit. The collection unfolds chronologically from the Roman conquest to the 1870 war, with a particular interest in the military past of the Reims region, the scene of famous episodes such as the battle of Valmy or the battle of Reims on March 13, 1814, which was Napoleon I's last victory.

Among the 600 pieces presented, one will stop in particular on the admirably preserved collection of helmets and cuirasses going back to the time of Charles X. The Second Empire and the War of 1870 are also well represented by weapons, equipment and uniforms but also by a painting by Edouard Detaille. In this majestic architecture was kept the holy bulb which was used for the coronations of the kings of France.

The abbey is illustrated through the cloister, the old medieval parlor of the 13th century, the grand staircase (1700), the chapter house of the Middle Ages and three rooms devoted to the chronology of the site. In the refectory and kitchen of the abbey (17th century), one discovers the former capital of the Roman imperial province of Belgium, while the second floor houses a chronological tour retracing the past of the Rheims region from prehistoric times to the Merovingian era. On this same level are presented the collections linked to the history of the abbey, notably the Tapestry of the life of Saint Remi, made up of ten large tapestries dating from the Renaissance, as well as the impressive reconstruction of the façade of the 13th century Musicians' House, decorated with five statues of minstrels. During the wars of the Revolution and the Empire, the former abbey was transformed into a French military hospital before becoming a Russian hospital in 1814. The king's bodyguards were stationed there during the coronation of Charles X in 1825.