A medieval town surrounded by ramparts, called the «Carcassonne du Nord», Provins has been inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage since 2001. The discovery of the 58 monuments classified from this ancient market city, the Saint-Jean or Jouy doors giving access to the upper city and the round road, the medieval festivals and animations rhythmic the year, everything contributes to making the city a tourist destination of choice. Especially at the time of its «medieval», the next edition of which will take place on 15 and 16 June 2019.
At his golden age, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Provins struck his own currency and Thibaud IV of Champagne reported crusades the famous rose of Damascus became «Provins pink». At the time of the great Champagne fairs, we must imagine the cohues of men from all countries exchanging not only goods, but also ideas. With the end of the thirteenth century, the decline of the fairs and the county of Champagne, attached to the royal domain in the xivcentury, began. A walk in the high city reveals this medieval character and allows to plunge back into this period of history.
Mess tours
The square of the Châtel, where you can see the Cross of Exchange and where the comical edits were proclaimed. You will also need to visit the beautiful stone houses and wood-paneled houses and the Grange at the Dinners. Located just a stone's throw from the Châtel Square, this magnificent double room on two levels is characteristic of fairs. There are more than 150 in the city. Both warehouses and places of sale for merchants, their particularly careful decoration shows that they were public places. La Grange, a true market covered in the time of the Champagne fairs, welcomed merchants. A revival of the scenes of the time shows the various activities: the silks, the trade in spices, the chandins merchant and its typical dark blue fabrics, the Flemish merchant and its skins, furs and wool. Crafts are also available: the public writer, the changer - the banker's ancestor, the stone tailor, the wool trades, the carrier, the parchment.
Direction the collegial Saint Quiriace, built in the XII century and decorated with a magnificent dome of the seventeenth century. This immense church of eight spines, has always had a thwarted fate. In the twelfth century, it was considered too small to welcome the community of canopy but enlarged, there was no longer enough money to complete it before making a semblance of closure in the sixteenth century, and then replaced the warheads crossed by a dome. Let us spend religiously on the fires and damage caused by wars… Today, well restored, the majestic is revealed in the period of Avent, when the community of merchants and animators of the city, the Danish associations and very many volunteers there organize a living nursery which is a real sound and free light of very good quality.
While the rest of the year should not be crowded, visitors often snoop to the advantage of the Caesar Tower. While some legends evoke its construction on the decision of Julius Caesar, the tower that we see today was built in the twelfth century by Henry I the Liberal. This dungeon, symbol of the all power of the Counts of Champagne, was a place of refuge, guet and prison. Remade, its frame dates from the sixteenth century and houses two bells. The largest date of 1511, it has a diameter of 1.48 meters and weighs 3,000 kilos. The second date was 1889. The vaulted guard room accentuates the prison character of the building. At the top of the stairs, the view is impregnable on the flickering countryside. Through the audiovisual design, projected in the various rooms of the tower, the visit will immerse you in the daily life of the dungeon of eight centuries ago, thanks to images and sounds. Consult the Tourist Office to plan a night visit to the candle. Magic!
In the lower city, the Saint-Ayoul church - high place of pilgrimage since the tenth century thanks to the relics of the saint deposited there by monks of the abbey of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, and the church Sainte-Croix are also to be discovered. Every Saturday, the Marché Honoré-de-Balzac and the Rue du Val animate this part of the city.
A city too…
The particularity of Provins is to have its double underground. Each important building in the citadel extends underground with a career, a lower room, a crypt connected to others by underground. This second city - more than a hundred rooms listed in the Upper City and several dozens in the Lower City - was formed from quarries of «land-to-foulon» extraction that were used to degrease and clean the high quality wool sheet produced in Provins. These cavities were exploited in shelters for the poor, pilgrims, but especially as warehouses during the Champagne Fairs, where traders stored price goods, well guarded by the services of the Counts of Champagne. In these vast "low rooms", lit by light wells and decorated, it was pleasant to welcome customers and show their goods in a variety of showrooms. Some rooms have also been used for cultuous meetings or later used as Masonic dressings as old writings on the walls attest to this. Today we can visit, beautifully illuminated by fiber optics, the communal part of these networks (250 meters) under the Hotel-Dieu and under Saint-Thibault Street.
A medieval atmosphere in the program!
All year round, the medieval remains of the city can be enjoyed, and Provins is known for its medieval surroundings. On June 15 and 16, 2019, the 35 th edition of this famous event will have the new theme of «Men and Animals». Hundreds of craftsmen and merchants will then revive, the upper city, low city, in underground underground, on squares and streets, along the ramparts and gardens, the incredible atmosphere of the famous Champagne fairs that have made Provins famous and prosperous. For two days, the city will vibrate with historical reconstructions, cones, musics, dances, juggling, games, stickers, cathedrals of the time of cathedrals, monasteries and forts, of the xie and XII centuries. In addition, a carte blanche will be offered to Luc Arbogast, revealed in the show «The Voice» on TF 1, for programming concerts in the collegial Saint-Quiriace. An unforgettable family exit!
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When is it? Of course, we can go to Provins all year round to take advantage of its unique heritage but also to attend the 35 th edition of the medieval "Men and Animals", rendez-vous in Seine and Marne on June 9 and 10.
Go there. By plane, by car (A 4 motorway, exit 13; motorway A 5, exit 16 or N 3 exit Provins) or by train (Provins station, from Paris-Gare de l 'Est), everything is possible to rally Provins.
Useful. To prepare his getaway best.
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