Rheims and the Battles for its Possession Part 9

=FIRST ITINERARY FOR VISITING RHEIMS=

=Starting-point: Place du Parvis Notre-Dame=

1. The Archbishop's Palace (p. 63).

2. The Theatre (p. 68) 3. The House of Levesque de Pouilly (p. 68).

4. The Stores: Galeries Remoises (p. 73).

5. The Maison Fossier (p. 75).

6. The House of J. B. de la Salle (p. 75).

7. The House of the Enfant d'Or (p. 75).

8. The Statue of Louis XV. (p. 79).

9. The Musicians' House (p. 80).

10. The House of De Muire (p. 83).

11. The House of Le Vergeur (p. 85).

12. A 16th Century House (p. 86).

13. The General Post Office and Chamber of Commerce (p. 87).

14. The Cloister of the Franciscan Friars (p. 90).

15. The House of Thiret de Prain (p. 89).

16. The House of de la Pourcelette (p. 92).

[Ill.u.s.tration: REMOVING THE STATUE OF JOAN-OF-ARC IN MAY, 1918]

=Place du Parvis=

The Place du Parvis (_photo below_) is in front of the main facade of the Cathedral. The sh.e.l.ls made enormous craters there.

In the centre of the square stands an =equestrian statue of Joan-of-Arc=, by Paul Dubois, of which there is a replica in the Place St. Augustin in Paris. It was removed in May, 1918, by the Historical Monuments Department (_photo above_).

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PLACE DU PARVIS _On the right: The Law Courts. In the centre: The Theatre. On the left: The Grand Hotel. In centre of Square: Statue of Joan-of-Arc._]

Looking towards the Cathedral, the tourist will see on the right the ruins of the _Hotel du Lion d'Or_ and of the _Hotel de la Maison Rouge_.

The latter was completely destroyed. Above the door was the inscription: "In the year 1429, at the consecration of Charles VII., in this hostelry--then called the 'Striped a.s.s'--the father and mother of Jeanne d'Arcq were lodged at the expense of the Munic.i.p.ality." In reality only the father of Joan-of-Arc lodged there.

It was at the Hotel du Lion d'Or (_photo opposite_) and at the Grand Hotel (No. 4 in the Rue Libergier, which opens out in front of the statue of Joan-of-Arc) that the Field-Marshal French stayed in August, 1914, and later General von Zuchow, commanding the Saxon troops which entered Rheims on September 4, 1914.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INNER COURTYARD OF THE LION D'OR HoTEL. (_Cliche A.S._)]

On the right of the Cathedral are the ruins of the Archbishop's Palace (_see plan, p. 33_). A general view of them is seen in the photograph on p. 48.

=The Archbishop's Palace=

Of the three buildings which surrounded every Cathedral in the Middle Ages--the bishop's palace, the cloister of the canons, and the house set apart for the sick and poor (Hotel-Dieu)--only the archbishop's palace existed at Rheims in 1914. It extended all along the south lateral facade of the Cathedral, on the site of the ancient abode of St.

Nicaise, which had replaced a Roman palace. Of the ancient building erected by the successors of St. Nicaise down to the 13th century, there remained only the graceful two-storied chapel, doubtless contemporary with the chevet of the Cathedral. The round entrance tower, known as Eon's tower (from the name of the heretic who was imprisoned there in the 12th century), and the great bronze stag placed in the middle of the courtyard by Archbishop Samson in the 11th century, still existed in the 17th century, but about that time the one was demolished and the other melted down. This stag, into which on feast-days wine was poured, which flowed out again by the mouth, was a beautiful specimen of the art of the old metal-founders of Rheims.

The archbishop's palace and most of its rich collections were burnt in the fire of September 19, 1914. Of the palace proper there remains only the great chimney-piece of the Salle du Tau, on which the Latin motto, "Good faith preserved makes rich," is inscribed (_see p. 64_), the very opposite of the German "sc.r.a.p of paper" theory.

=The Archeveche=: The buildings which lined the courtyard were of different periods. The wing ab.u.t.ting on the entrance-gate was 19th century, while the correct but heavy and dull southern facade was rebuilt in the 17th century by Archbishop Maurice Le Tellier, from the plans of Robert de Cotte.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SALLE DU TAU, BEFORE THE WAR]

=The Salle du Tau (or Kings' Hall)=

(_See plan, p. 33._)

At the bottom of the courtyard there used to be a large late 15th and early 16th century hall, access to which was gained by a horse-shoe stair with late 17th century wrought-iron hand-rail.

A small porch-like structure at the top of the stair was an unfortunate addition of 1825.

The hall was known as the =Salle du Tau=, in memory of the ancient palace which was shaped like the Greek letter _Tau_, or the Kings' Hall, on account of the portraits of the Kings consecrated at Rheims, received in 1825.

Built by the Cardinal Archbishop Guillaume Briconnet between 1497 and 1507, it comprised two stories.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SALLE DU TAU IN 1918 _Behind the ruined Hall are seen the Southern Transept and Chevet of the Cathedral._]

The upper hall, in which the royal banquet was served at the consecrations, became the Stock Exchange at the beginning of the 19th century. It was disfigured by poor paintings and false Gothic ornamentation at the time of the consecration of Charles X.

The walls were hung with four admirable tapestries by Pepersack and several others given by Robert de Lenoncourt.

The vast chimney-piece with the Briconnet and Church of Rheims Arms is all that the fire of 1914 spared of the ancient decoration. It is visible in the photographs on page 64, at the bottom of the hall.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ENTRANCE TO THE SALLE DU TAU (OR KINGS' HALL). (_See plan, p. 33._)]

The lower hall, with its Gothic arching, was as large as the upper one.

The capitals of the prismatic pillars and the key-stones of the arches were adorned with escutcheons, fleur-de-lys, flowers and crockets.

=The Archi-episcopal Chapel=

(_See plan, p. 33._)

This was without doubt the work of Jean d'Orbais, the first architect of the Cathedral. It resembled the latter in many respects.

With its seven-sided apse, four-bay nave and lancet-shaped windows without rubber-work, it was remarkably slender and graceful.

Its finest ornament was the 13th century bas-relief, _The Adoration of the Magi_, in the tympanum of the entrance door.

The white marble inner portico of the door dated from the Restoration.

The other, formed of in-laid wood panels, was adorned with five 16th or early 17th century painted figures.

The lower chapel, partly subterranean, was fitted up as a lapidary museum in 1865 and 1896.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ENTRANCE TO THE ARCHI-EPISCOPAL CHAPEL. (_See plan, p.

33._)]