The inner city of the trade and trade fair city in Champagne, which was rich in the Middle Ages, has been preserved as a closed urban ensemble with ramparts, churches and palaces. Above it rises the impressive silhouette of the Tour de César, an octagonal watchtower from the 12th century.
Medieval trading town of Provins: facts
| Official title: | Medieval trading town of Provins |
| Cultural monument: | Upper town developed like a fortress with ramparts including the gate fortress Saint-Jean (12th century, restored), Caesar tower (44 m high defense tower, beginning of 12th century, extensions of the 16th century), early Gothic church of Saint-Quiriace (12th century) 15th / 17th century), lower town with ao: Saynt-Ayoul church (12th century), tithe barn (11th century); numerous palaces, connected to one another by underground cellars, used as storage rooms during trade fairs |
| Continent: | Europe |
| Country: | France |
| Location: | Provins, Seine-et-Marne department |
| Appointment: | 2001 |
| Meaning: | Central hub for the European exchange of goods through annual trade fairs; outstanding location for the economic connection between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean |
Medieval Trading City Provins: History
| 802 | First documentary mention |
| 1085/96 | First champagne fair |
| 1191 | Fixed rhythm of the Champagne fairs, which take place every six years, agreed between the four organizing exhibition cities of Troyes, Lagny, Bar-sur-Aube and Provins |
| 1226-53 | Thibaut IV’s reign, the city’s heyday |
| 1279 | Civil uprising, followed by an exodus of many wealthy families |
| Early 14th century | The decline of the trade fair industry |
| 1385 | County of Champagne and with it Provins to the French crown |
Saint-Emilion
According to neovideogames, Saint-Émilion [sε temi ljo], large vineyard (World Heritage Site) in southwest France, on the right bank of the Dordogne, east of Bordeaux (2300 residents). The growing area covers 5,500 hectares (2013) of vineyards, of which just under 3,400 hectares are classified as Grand Cru. The most widely cultivated grape varieties are Merlot – it makes up between 55 and 80% of the blend in most wines – and Cabernet franc; Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère and Malbec are cultivated to a lesser extent. Saint-Émilion has had its own classification of the best wineries since 1954, which, unlike that of the Médoc, can be reviewed and revised every 10 years. The basis is formed by wines from A. C. Saint-Émilion, above them are those from A. C. Saint-Emilion Grand Cru. The small group of Saint-Émilion Grands Crus Classés, which is again divided into a B group of eleven and an A group of two châteaux, ranks one level above. In the hinterland, Saint-Émilion is surrounded by the growing areas of the four so-called satellite appellations: Lussac-Saint-Émilion, Montagne-Saint-Émilion, Puisseguin-Saint-Émilion and Saint-Georges Saint-Émilion. The wines of these moister and cooler areas are made from even greater proportions of Merlot and are generally easier and quicker to drink than wines from Saint-Emilion. Much of their production is not marketed under the respective appellation, but as Bordeaux or Bordeaux Supérieur.
Reims
Reims [rε s], a town in the department of Marne region Grand Est, France, 83 meters above sea level, de Montagne from the exit of the Vesle Reims, part of the escarpment of the Ile de France, 182 600 residents; Seat of a Catholic archbishop; University (founded in 1548; newly founded in 1969), conservatory, art college, planetarium, regional museum for contemporary art FRAC, museum of fine arts, automobile museum and others. Reims is a capital of Champagne (historical region Champagne-Ardenne), especially a champagne trading center; Mechanical engineering, manufacture of auto parts and household appliances, aircraft, textile, clothing and food industries, champagne cellars with supply industry; Airfield.
Cityscape
The Notre-Dame Cathedral (UNESCO World Heritage Site), one of the most important Gothic cathedrals in France, was started in 1211 after a previous building burned down and was largely completed around 1300; The nave and transept have three aisles, the choir five aisles with a chapel wreath; the west facade is divided into the portal zone with rich sculptural decoration (“virgin portal” and others), into the central zone with a large rose window and into the upper floor with a statue gallery (king gallery), above which two blunt towers rise. Little of the furnishings has survived, including Grisaille windows from the 13th century in the transept (six new windows by M. Chagall, 1974). The former episcopal palace (Palais du Tau, especially 17th century; UNESCO World Heritage Site) contains the church treasure (goldsmith work), tapestries and sculptures. – In the north of the city the Porte de Mars, a Roman triumphal arch from the 2nd century AD. In the south the former Saint Rémi abbey (UNESCO World Heritage Site) with an early Romanesque church from the 1st half of the 11th century, choir, vault and west facade from the early Gothic period; in the adjoining monastery building (13th, 17th and 18th centuries) the historical museum. Musée Saint-Remis (paintings, tapestries); City history museum in the Hôtel Le Vergeur (13th and 16th centuries, expanded in the 17th and 18th centuries; including copperplate engravings by A. Dürer).
History
Reims, the Gallic Durocortorum, capital of the (eponymous) Belgian Remer, was due to its favorable location at the intersection of important roads the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Belgica, after the division of the province of Belgica II, later a church province, and next to Metz the residence of the kings of Austrasia. The archbishops, since 940 also counts, later dukes of Reims and pairs of France, obtained the sole right to crown the kings of France in 1179. In 1429, Jeanne d’Arcled Dauphin Karl (as King Charles VII) through the English-occupied country for his coronation in Reims, whose cathedral thus became a symbol of national unity.
On May 7, 1945, Colonel General A. Jodl signed the total surrender of the German Wehrmacht in Reims, D. Eisenhower’s headquarters.
