Reims Cathedral

Notre-Dame de Reims is a Roman Catholic church in Reims, France, built in the High Gothic style. The cathedral replaced an older church, destroyed by fire in 1211, that was built on the site of the basilica where Clovis was baptized by Saint Remi, bishop of Reims in AD 496. That original structure had itself been erected on the site of some Roman baths.The cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Reims. The cathedral was also where the kings of France were crowned.A major tourism destination, the cathedral receives about one million visitors annually.HistoryExcavations have shown that the present building occupies roughly the same site as the original cathedral, founded c.400 under the episcopacy of St Nicaise. That church was rebuilt during the Carolingian period and further extended in the 12th century. On 19 May 1051, King Henry I of France and Anne of Kiev were married in the cathedral. Whilst conducting the Council of Reims in 1131, Pope Innocent II anointed and crowned the future Louis VII in the cathedral.