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90-802: Reims ( / r iː m z / REEMZ ; French: [ʁɛ̃s] ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne , and the 12th most populous city in France . The city lies 129 km (80 mi) northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne . Founded by the Gauls , Reims became a major city in the Roman Empire . Reims later played

180-463: A county of the United States . At the 2001 census, the median population of a department in continental France was 511,000 inhabitants, which is 21 times the median population of a United States county, but less than two-thirds of the median population of a ceremonial county of England and Wales. Most of the departments have an area of between 4,000 and 8,000 km (1500 to 3000 sq. mi.), and

270-546: A dramatic and whimsical fashion. Pets are welcome. A Christmas market was held on the parvis of Reims Cathedral (Place du Cardinal-Luçon). It has since been moved in front of the Reims train station. In takes place in the month before Christmas, in 2023 this will be November 24th until December 24th. The Christmas market in Reims is the 3rd largest Christmas market in France. There are 150 different stalls each with various regional crafts, gifts, foods and specialities. This includes

360-528: A famous poutine stand. The market last year was open on Mondays from 2pm to 8pm, Tuesday to Thursday from 10:30am to 10pm, Friday from 10:30am to 10pm, Saturday from 10am to 10pm, and Sundays from 10pm to 8pm. Access to the Christmas market is free and it is accessible to people with reduced mobility. Dogs are welcome if they are on a leash. Close by, there is a large traditional Christmas tree. Restaurants and bars are concentrated around Place Drouet d'Erlon in

450-863: A military expedition down the Rhone valley. He received the submission of eastern Septimania (i.e., Nîmes , Maguelone , Beziers and Agde ) after securing count Ansemund's allegiance. The Frankish king went on to invest Narbonne , the main Umayyad stronghold in Septimania, but could not capture it from the Iberian Muslims until seven years later in 759 , when they were driven out to Hispania. However, Aquitaine remained under Waiofar 's Gascon-Aquitanian rule and beyond Frankish reach. Duke Waiofar appears to have confiscated Church lands, maybe distributing them among his troops. In 760, after conquering

540-500: A more uniform division into departments ( département ) and districts in late 1789. The process began on 4 August 1789 with the elimination of provincial privileges, and a 22 December 1789 decree (with letters patent in January 1790) provided for the termination of the provincial governments. The modern department system, as all-purpose units of the government, was decreed on 26 February 1790 (with letters patent on 4 March 1790) by

630-513: A population between 320,000 and 1 million. The largest in area is Gironde (10,000 km (3,900 sq mi).), while the smallest is the city of Paris (105 km (41 sq mi).). The most populous is Nord (2,550,000) and the least populous is Lozère (74,000). The departments are numbered: their two-digit numbers appear in postal codes , in INSEE codes (including "social security numbers") and on vehicle number plates . Initially

720-405: A president. Their main areas of responsibility include the management of a number of social and welfare allowances, of junior high school ( collège ) buildings and technical staff, and local roads and school and rural buses, and a contribution to municipal infrastructures. Local services of the state administration are traditionally organised at departmental level, where the prefect represents

810-668: A prominent ceremonial role in French monarchical history as the traditional site of the coronation of the kings of France . The royal anointing was performed at the Cathedral of Reims , which housed the Holy Ampulla of chrism allegedly brought by a white dove at the baptism of Frankish king Clovis I in 496. For this reason, Reims is often referred to in French as la cité des sacres ("the Coronation City"). Reims

900-399: A three-digit number. The number is used, for example, in the postal code and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates . Residents commonly use the numbers to refer to their own department or a neighbouring one, for example inhabitants of Loiret may refer to their department as "the 45". More distant departments are generally referred to by their names, as few people know

990-514: Is a biscuit frequently associated with Champagne wine. Reims was long renown for its pain d'épices and nonnette . Between 1925 and 1969, Reims hosted the Grand Prix de la Marne automobile race at the circuit of Reims-Gueux . The French Grand Prix took place here 14 times between 1938 and 1966. As of 2021, the football club Stade Reims , based in the city, competed in the Ligue 1 ,

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1080-548: Is a candidate in the bid to become the European Capital of Culture in 2028. The Palace of Tau contains such exhibits as statues formerly displayed by the cathedral, treasures of the cathedral from past centuries, and royal attire from coronations of French kings. The Musée Saint-Remi , formerly the Abbey of Saint-Remi, contains tapestries from the 16th century donated by the archbishop Robert de Lenoncourt (uncle of

1170-481: Is commonly associated, though not all are officially recognised or used. Unlike the rest of the French possessions in Africa , Algeria was divided into departments just like Corsica or Normandy from 1848 until its independence in 1962. These departments were supposed to be "assimilated" or "integrated" to France sometime in the future. There are a number of former departments in territories conquered by France during

1260-735: Is housed in the former Abbey of Saint-Denis. Part of the former Collège des Jésuites has also become a contemporary art gallery: the FRAC Champagne-Ardenne. The Museum of the Surrender is the building in which on 7 May 1945, General Eisenhower and the Allies received the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht . Venues include the Reims Opera House , built in 1873 and renovated in 1931–1932, and

1350-411: Is known as the prefecture ( préfecture ) or chef-lieu de département and is generally a town of some importance roughly at the geographical centre of the department. This was determined according to the time taken to travel on horseback from the periphery of the department. The goal was for the prefecture to be accessible on horseback from any town in the department within 24 hours. The prefecture

1440-639: Is linked to its production and export. Before the Roman conquest of northern Gaul , Reims had served as the Remi tribe's capital, founded c.  80 BC . In the course of Julius Caesar 's conquest of Gaul (58–51 BC), the Remi allied themselves with the Romans , and by their fidelity throughout the various Gallic insurrections secured the special favour of the imperial power. At its height in Roman times

1530-562: Is not necessarily the largest city in the department: for instance, in Saône-et-Loire department the capital is Mâcon , but the largest city is Chalon-sur-Saône . Departments may be divided into arrondissements . The capital of an arrondissement is called a subprefecture ( sous-préfecture ) or chef-lieu d'arrondissement . Each department is administered by a departmental council ( conseil départemental ), an assembly elected for six years by universal suffrage , with

1620-530: Is recognized for the diversity of its heritage, ranging from Romanesque to Art-déco . Reims Cathedral , the adjacent Palace of Tau , and the Abbey of Saint-Remi were listed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 because of their outstanding Romanesque and Gothic architecture and their historical importance to the French monarchy. Reims also lies on the northern edge of the Champagne wine region and

1710-597: Is the prefecture . Reims co-operates with 142 other communes in the Communauté urbaine du Grand Reims . Rue de Vesle is the main commercial street (continued under other names), traversing the city from southwest to northeast through the Place Royale . The economy of Reims is driven by the wine and Champagne industries and innovation in the bio-economic field. Reims Cathedral is an example of French Gothic architecture . The Basilica of Saint-Remi , founded in

1800-722: The Hôtel de Ville dates back to the same century. The Place Royale was built in the 18th century. Some of the 1792 September Massacres took place in Reims. In the invasions of the War of the Sixth Coalition in 1814, anti-Napoleonic allied armies captured and re-captured Reims. "In 1852, the Eastern Railways completed the Paris-Strasbourg main line with branch lines to Reims and Metz." In 1870–1871, during

1890-654: The Ponts et Chaussées (Bridges and Highways) infrastructure administration. Before the French Revolution , France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the end of the Ancien Régime it was organised into provinces . During the Revolution they were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. The National Constituent Assembly decided to create

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1980-669: The ducatus Romanus . After a meeting with Pope Stephen II at Ponthion, Pepin forced the Lombard king to return the seized property from the Church. He confirmed the papacy in possession of Ravenna and the Pentapolis , the so-called Donation of Pepin , whereby the Papal States were established, and the temporal reign of the papacy officially began. At about 752, he turned his attention to Septimania. The new king headed south in

2070-618: The 1823 French intervention ending the trienio liberal ) and the 1833 territorial division of Spain , which forms the basis of the present day Provinces of Spain with minor modifications, are also based on the French model of departments of roughly equal size. Most French departments are assigned a two-digit number, the Official Geographical Code, allocated by the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques ( Insée ). Overseas departments have

2160-780: The Bavarians , Aquitanians , Saxons , and the Alemanni in the early years of their reign. In 743, they ended the Frankish Interregnum  [ fr ] by choosing Childeric III , who was to be the last Merovingian monarch , as figurehead King of the Franks. Being well disposed towards the Christian Church and Papacy on account of their ecclesiastical upbringing, Pepin and Carloman continued their father's work in supporting Saint Boniface in reforming

2250-565: The Franco-Prussian War , the victorious Germans made it the seat of a governor-general and impoverished it with heavy requisitions. In 1874 the construction of a chain of detached forts started in the vicinity, the French Army having selected Reims as one of the chief defences of the northern approaches to Paris. In the meantime, British inventor and manufacturer Isaac Holden had opened plants at Reims and Croix , which "by

2340-547: The French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire that are now not part of France: Dutch Republic : Holy Roman Empire : Dutch Republic : Holy Roman Empire : Dutch Republic : Holy Roman Empire : Holy Roman Empire : Electorate of the Palatinate Electorate of the Palatinate Kingdom of Prussia : Imperial Free City of Wesel (after 1805) Notes for Table 7: Pepin

2430-532: The Fêtes Johanniques commemorate the entrance of Joan of Arc into Reims in 1429 and the coronation of Charles VII of France in the cathedral. In August and September there are regular evening light shows called Regalia projected onto the Reims Cathedral. It has a duration of 15 minutes and is free of charge. Regalia is an open-air multimedia show telling the story of the French coronations in

2520-623: The Germanic tribes was left to his successors. Pepin died in 768 from unknown causes and was succeeded by his sons Charlemagne and Carloman . Although Pepin was one of the most powerful and successful rulers of his time, his reign is largely overshadowed by that of his more famous son, Charlemagne. Pepin's father Charles Martel died in 741. He divided the rule of the Frankish kingdom between Pepin and his elder brother, Carloman , his surviving sons by his first wife: Carloman became Mayor of

2610-474: The ISO 3166-2 country subdivision codes for the metropolitan departments. The overseas departments have three digits. Originally, the relationship between the departments and the central government was left somewhat ambiguous. While citizens in each department elected their own officials, the local governments were subordinated to the central government, becoming instruments of national integration. By 1793, however,

2700-664: The Lombards in Italy . In the midsummer of 754, Stephen II anointed Pepin afresh, together with his two sons, Charles and Carloman. The ceremony took place in the Abbey Church of St. Denis , and the Pope formally forbade the Franks ever to elect as king anyone who was not of the sacred race of Pepin. He also bestowed upon Pepin and his sons the title of Patrician of Rome . Pepin was able to secure several cities, which he then gave to

2790-597: The National Constituent Assembly . Their boundaries served two purposes: The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments. Most were named after an area's principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine . Savoy , during its temporary occupation, became the department of Mont-Blanc . The provinces continued to exist administratively until 21 September 1791. The number of departments, initially 83, had been increased to 130 by 1809 with

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2880-661: The President of the Departmental Council as executive of the department. Before 1982, the chief executive of the department was the prefect ( préfet ), who represents the Government of France in each department and is appointed by the President of the French Republic . The prefect is assisted by one or more sub-prefects ( sous-préfet ) based in the subprefectures of the department. Since 1982,

2970-566: The Reims Manège and Circus , dating from 1865 and 1867. The Comédie de Reims was inaugurated in 1966. Libraries in Reims include a Carnegie library which was built in the 1920s. At the beginning of the year, the FARaway - Festival des Arts à Reims is a two-week event of music, dance, theatre, exhibitions, and installations at various cultural venues around the city. Every year in June,

3060-714: The Roussillon from the Muslims and denouncing Waiofar's actions, Pepin moved his troops over to Toulouse and Albi , ravaged with fire and sword most of Aquitaine , and, in retaliation, counts loyal to Waiofar ravaged Burgundy. Pepin, in turn, besieged the Aquitanian-held towns and strongholds of Bourbon , Clermont , Chantelle , Bourges and Thouars , defended by Waiofar's Gascon troops, who were overcome, captured and deported into northern France with their children and wives. In 763, Pepin advanced further into

3150-586: The Territoire de Belfort ; the remaining parts of Meurthe and Moselle were merged into a new Meurthe-et-Moselle department. When France regained the ceded departments after World War I , the Territoire de Belfort was not reintegrated into Haut-Rhin. In 1922 it became France's 90th department. Likewise the Lorraine departments were not changed back to their original boundaries, and a new Moselle department

3240-675: The UMP , said in December 2008 that the fusion of the departments with the regions was a matter to be dealt with soon. This was soon refuted by Édouard Balladur and Gérard Longuet , members of the committee for the reform of local authorities, known as the Balladur Committee. In January 2008, the Attali Commission recommended that the departmental level of government should be eliminated within ten years. Nevertheless,

3330-626: The administrative divisions of France , the department ( French : département , pronounced [depaʁtəmɑ̃] ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities "), between the administrative regions and the communes . There are ninety-six departments in metropolitan France , with an additional five overseas departments , which are also classified as overseas regions. Departments are further subdivided into 333 arrondissements and 2,054 cantons (as of 2023). These last two levels of government have no political autonomy, instead serving as

3420-432: The cardinal of the same name ), marble capitals from the fourth century AD, furniture, jewellery, pottery, weapons and glasswork from the sixth to eighth centuries, medieval sculpture, the façade of the 13th-century musicians' House, remnants from an earlier abbey building, and also exhibits of Gallo-Roman arts and crafts and a room of pottery, jewellery and weapons from Gallic civilization, as well as an exhibit of items from

3510-584: The heavy cavalry his father had begun. He maintained the standing army that his father had found necessary to protect the realm and form the core of its whole army in wartime. He not only contained the Spanish Muslims as his father had but drove them out of what is now France and, as important, he managed to subdue the Aquitanians and the Gascons after three generations of on-off clashes, opening

3600-617: The siege of Narbonne in 759 , and proceeded to subjugate the southern realms by repeatedly defeating Waiofar and his Gascon troops, after which the Gascon and Aquitanian lords saw no option but to pledge loyalty to the Franks. Pepin was, however, troubled by the relentless revolts of the Saxons and the Bavarians. He campaigned tirelessly in Germania as well, but the final subjugation of

3690-462: The 11th century "over the chapel of St. Christophe where St. Remi was buried", is "the largest Romanesque church in northern France, though with later additions." The Church of Saint-Jacques dates from the 13th to the 16th centuries. A few blocks from the cathedral, it stands as of 2009 in a neighbourhood of shopping and restaurants. The churches of Saint-Maurice (partly rebuilt in 1867), Saint-André, and Saint-Thomas (erected from 1847 to 1853, under

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3780-645: The 1870s [...] were producing almost 12 million kilograms of combed wool a year [...] and accounted for 27 percent of all the wool consumed by French industry." On 30 October 1908, Henri Farman made the first cross-country flight from Châlons to Reims. In August 1909 Reims hosted the first international aviation meet , the Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne . Major aviation personages such as Glenn Curtiss , Louis Blériot and Louis Paulhan participated. Hostilities in World War I greatly damaged

3870-412: The Balladur Committee has not retained this proposition and does not advocate the disappearance of the departments, but simply "favors the voluntary grouping of departments", which it suggests also for the regions, with the aim of reducing the number of regions to 15. This committee advocates, on the contrary, the suppression of the cantons. Each department has a coat of arms and a flag with which it

3960-519: The Basilica of St Denis in 754, bestowing upon him the additional title of Patricius Romanorum (Patrician of the Romans). This was the first recorded crowning of a civil ruler by a Pope. As life expectancies were short in those days, and Pepin wanted family continuity, the Pope also anointed Pepin's sons, Charles (eventually known as Charlemagne), who was 12, and Carloman, who was 3. The significance of

4050-400: The Frankish church and evangelizing the Saxons. After Carloman, an intensely pious man, retired to religious life in 747, Pepin became the sole ruler of the Franks. He suppressed a revolt led by his half-brother Grifo and succeeded in becoming the undisputed master of all Francia. Giving up pretense, Pepin then forced Childeric into a monastery and had himself proclaimed King of the Franks with

4140-400: The Merovingian Childeric to the throne (743). Then, in 747, Carloman resolved to enter a monastery after years of consideration. This left Francia in the hands of Pepin as sole mayor of the palace and dux et princeps Francorum . At the time of Carloman's retirement, Grifo escaped his imprisonment and fled to Duke Odilo of Bavaria , who was married to Hiltrude, Pepin's sister. Pepin put down

4230-436: The Palace of Austrasia, Pepin became Mayor of the Palace of Neustria. Grifo , Charles's son by his second wife, Swanahild (also known as Swanhilde), demanded a share in the inheritance, but he was besieged in Laon , forced to surrender and imprisoned in a monastery by his two half-brothers. In the Frankish realm, the kingdom's unity was essentially connected with the king's person. So Carloman, to secure this unity, raised

4320-428: The Palaeolithic to the Neolithic periods. Another section of the museum features a permanent military exhibition. The Automobile Museum Reims-Champagne , established in 1985 by Philippe Charbonneaux , houses a collection of automobiles dating from 1903 to the present day. The museum has five collections: automobiles, motorcycles and two-wheelers, pedal cars, miniature toys, and enamel plaques. The Museum of Fine Arts

4410-399: The Pope as part of the Donation of Pepin . This formed the legal basis for the Papal States in the Middle Ages. The Byzantine Greeks , keen to make good relations with the growing power of the Frankish Empire, gave Pepin the title of Patricius . In wars of expansion for the Frankish realm , Pepin conquered Septimania from the Umayyad and Andalusian Muslims and defeated them at

4500-667: The Republic (all created in 1946) – French Guiana , Guadeloupe , Martinique and Réunion – the total number of departments in the French Republic had become 101. In 2015 the Urban Community of Lyon was split from Rhône to form the Métropole de Lyon , a sui generis entity, with the powers of both an intercommunality and those of a department on its territory, formally classified as a "territorial collectivity with particular status" ( French : collectivité territoriale à statut particulier ) and as such not belonging to any department. As of 2019 Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse are still administrative departments, although they no longer have

4590-440: The Salian Franks, won his victory at Soissons (486)— Remigius , the bishop of Reims, baptized him using the oil of the sacred phial–purportedly brought from heaven by a dove for the baptism of Clovis and subsequently preserved in the Abbey of Saint-Remi . For centuries the events at the crowning of Clovis I became a symbol used by the monarchy to claim the divine right to rule. Meetings of Pope Stephen II (752–757) with Pepin

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4680-598: The Short Pepin was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude . Pepin's upbringing was distinguished by the ecclesiastical education he had received from the Christian monks of the Abbey Church of St. Denis , near Paris . Succeeding his father as the Mayor of the Palace in 741, Pepin reigned over Francia jointly with his elder brother, Carloman . Pepin ruled in Neustria , Burgundy , and Provence , while his older brother Carloman established himself in Austrasia , Alemannia , and Thuringia . The brothers were active in suppressing revolts led by

4770-423: The Short , and of Pope Leo III (795–816) with Charlemagne (died 814), took place at Reims; here Pope Stephen IV crowned Louis the Debonnaire in 816. King Louis IV gave the city and countship of Reims to the archbishop Artaldus in 940. King Louis VII (reigned 1137–1180) gave the title of duke and peer to William of Champagne , archbishop from 1176 to 1202, and the archbishops of Reims took precedence over

4860-423: The administrative basis for the local organisation of police, fire departments as well as, in certain cases, elections. Each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council ( sg. conseil départemental , pl. conseils départementaux ). From 1800 to April 2015, these were called general councils ( sg. conseil général , pl. conseils généraux ). Each council has

4950-429: The anointment ceremony is visible in that the Pope newly adopted it and was unheard of in Rome. This, together with granting the title of Patrician of the Romans, which was connected to the role of Defensor Civitatis (protector of oppressed citizens), meant that Pepin was now designated as the defender of the Church. Pepin's first major act as king was to go to war against the Lombard king Aistulf , who had expanded into

5040-468: The cathedral. Louis XI cruelly suppressed a revolt at Reims, caused in 1461 by the salt tax . During the French Wars of Religion the city sided with the Catholic League (1585), but submitted to King Henri IV after the battle of Ivry (1590). At about the same time, the English College had been "at Reims for some years." The city was stricken with plague in 1635, and again in 1668, followed by an epidemic of typhus in 1693–1694. The construction of

5130-433: The city by 260, at which period Saint Sixtus of Reims founded the Diocese of Reims (which would be elevated to an archdiocese around 750). The consul Jovinus , an influential supporter of the new faith, repelled the Alamanni who invaded Champagne in 336, but the Vandals captured the city in 406 and slew Bishop Nicasius ; in 451 Attila the Hun put Reims to fire and sword. In 496—ten years after Clovis , King of

5220-466: The city centre. Reims, along with Épernay and Ay , functions as one of the centres of champagne production. Many of the largest champagne-producing houses , known as les grandes marques , have their headquarters in Reims, and most open for tasting and tours. Champagne ages in the many caves and tunnels under Reims, which form a sort of maze below the city. Carved from chalk , some of these passages date back to Roman times. The biscuit rose de Reims

5310-425: The city had a population in the range of 30,000–50,000 or perhaps up to 100,000. Reims was first called Durocortorum in Latin , which is hypothesized to derive from a Gaulish name meaning "Door of Cortoro-". The city later took its name from the Remi tribe ( Rēmi or Rhēmi ). The modern French name is derived from the accusative case of the latter, Rēmos . Christianity had become established in

5400-418: The city. German bombardment and a subsequent fire in 1914 did severe damage to the cathedral. The ruined cathedral became one of the central images of anti-German propaganda produced in France during the war, which presented it, along with the ruins of the Ypres Cloth Hall and the University Library in Louvain , as evidence that German aggression targeted cultural landmarks of European civilization. Since

5490-414: The country's capital city, is a commune as well as a department. In continental France ( metropolitan France , excluding Corsica ), the median land area of a department is 5,965 km (2,303 sq mi), which is two-and-a-half times the median land area of the ceremonial counties of England and the preserved counties of Wales and slightly more than three-and-half times the median land area of

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5580-447: The end of World War I, an international effort to restore the cathedral from the ruins has continued. During World War II , the city suffered additional damage. On the morning of 7 May 1945, at 2:41, General Eisenhower and the Allies received the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht in Reims. General Alfred Jodl , German Chief-of-Staff, signed the surrender at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force ( SHAEF ) as

5670-483: The gate to central and southern Gaul and Muslim Spain. He continued his father's expansion of the Frankish church (missionary work in Germany and Scandinavia ) and the institutional infrastructure ( feudalism ) that would prove the backbone of medieval Europe. His rule was historically significant and greatly beneficial to the Franks as a people. Pepin's assumption of the crown and the title of Patrician of Rome were harbingers of his son's imperial coronation. He made

5760-620: The government; however, regions have gained importance since the 2000s, with some department-level services merged into region-level services. The departments were created in 1790 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity; the title "department" is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after physical geographical features (rivers, mountains, or coasts), rather than after historical or cultural territories, which could have their own loyalties, or after their own administrative seats. The division of France into departments

5850-418: The heart of Waiofar's domains and captured major strongholds (Poitiers, Limoges, Angoulême, etc.), after which Waiofar counterattacked and war became bitter. Pepin opted to spread terror, burning villas, destroying vineyards, and depopulating monasteries. By 765, the brutal tactics seemed to pay off for the Franks, who destroyed resistance in central Aquitaine and devastated the whole region. The city of Toulouse

5940-400: The highest tier of French football. Stade Reims became the outstanding team of France in the 1950s and early 1960s and reached the final of the European Cup of Champions twice in that era. In October 2018, the city hosted the second Teqball World Cup. The city has hosted the Reims Marathon since 1984. Reims is served by two main railway stations: Gare de Reims in the city centre,

6030-451: The hub for regional transport, and the new Gare de Champagne-Ardenne TGV 5 kilometres (3 miles) southwest of the city with high-speed rail connections to Paris, Metz, Nancy and Strasbourg. There are two other railway stations for local services in the southern suburbs: Franchet d'Esperey and Reims-Maison-Blanche . The motorways A4 (Paris-Strasbourg), A26 (Calais-Langres) and A34 intersect near Reims. Departments of France In

6120-451: The magnates and had the power of a king, he now addressed to Pope Zachary a suggestive question: Hard pressed by the Lombards , Pope Zachary welcomed this move by the Franks to end an intolerable condition and lay the constitutional foundations for exercising royal power. The Pope replied that such a state of things is not proper. Under these circumstances, the wielder of actual power should be called King. After this decision, Childeric III

6210-479: The new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice and a portion of the Var department. The 89 departments were given numbers based on the alphabetical order of their names. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe , Moselle , Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871 following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War . A small part of Haut-Rhin, however, remained French and became known as

6300-407: The numbers corresponded to the alphabetical order of the names of the departments, but several changed their names and some have been divided, so the correspondence became less exact. Alphanumeric codes 2A and 2B were used for Corsica while it was split but it has since reverted to 20. The two-digit code "98" is used by Monaco . Together with the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code FR, the numbers form

6390-442: The numbers of all the departments. In 2014, President François Hollande proposed abolishing departmental councils by 2020, which would have maintained the departments as administrative divisions, and transferring their powers to other levels of governance. This reform project has since been scrapped. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René d'Argenson to serve as administrative areas purely for

6480-471: The other ecclesiastical peers of the realm . By the 10th century, Reims had become a centre of intellectual culture. Archbishop Adalberon (in office 969 to 988), seconded by the monk Gerbert (afterwards (from 999 to 1003) Pope Silvester II ), founded schools which taught the classical " liberal arts ". (Adalberon also played a leading role in the dynastic revolution which elevated the Capetian dynasty in

6570-418: The patronage of Cardinal Gousset , now buried within its walls) also draw tourists. The Protestant Church of Reims , built in 1921–1923 over designs by Charles Letrosne , is an example of flamboyant neo-Gothic architecture. The Hôtel de Ville , erected in the 17th century and enlarged in the 19th, features a pediment with an equestrian statue of Louis XIII (reigned 1610 to 1643). Narcisse Brunette

6660-547: The place of the Carolingians .) The archbishops held the important prerogative of the consecration of the kings of France – a privilege which they exercised (except in a few cases) from the time of Philippe II Augustus (anointed 1179, reigned 1180–1223) to that of Charles X (anointed 1825). The Palace of Tau , built between 1498 and 1509 and partly rebuilt in 1675, would later serve as the Archbishop's palace and as

6750-429: The prefect retains only the powers that are not delegated to the department councils. In practice, their role has been largely limited to preventing local policy from conflicting with national policy. The departments are further divided into communes , governed by municipal councils . As of 2013, there were 36,681 communes in France. In the overseas territories , some communes play a role at departmental level. Paris ,

6840-458: The renewed revolt led by his half-brother and successfully restored the kingdom's boundaries. Under the reorganization of Francia by Charles Martel, the dux et princeps Francorum was the commander of the kingdom's armies, in addition to his administrative duties as mayor of the palace. As mayor of the palace, Pepin was formally subject to the decisions of Childeric III , who had only the title of king, with no power. Since Pepin had control over

6930-458: The representative for German President Karl Dönitz . The British statesman Leslie Hore-Belisha died of a cerebral haemorrhage while making a speech at the Hôtel de Ville in February 1957. Reims functions as a subprefecture of the department of Marne , in the administrative region of Grand Est . Although Reims is by far the largest commune in its department, Châlons-en-Champagne

7020-518: The residence of the kings of France on the occasion of their coronations, with royal banquets taking place in the Salle du Tau . Louis VII granted the city a communal charter in 1139. The Treaty of Troyes (1420) ceded it to the English, who had made a futile attempt to take it by siege in 1360; French patriots expelled them on the approach of Joan of Arc , who in 1429 had Charles VII consecrated in

7110-464: The revolutionary government had turned the departments into transmission belts for policies enacted in Paris. With few exceptions, the departments had this role until the early 1960s. These maps cannot be used as a useful resource of voter preferences, because Departmental Councils are elected on a two-round system, which drastically limits the chances of fringe parties, if they are not supported on one of

7200-428: The status of departmental " territorial collectivities ": region and department functions have been managed by a " single territorial collectivity " since 2018. Despite the intention to avoid the old nomenclature, often the names of pre-1790 provinces remained in use. For example, the name of Berry , though no longer having an official status, remains in widespread use in daily life. The departmental seat of government

7290-545: The support of Pope Zachary in 751. Not all members of the Carolingian family supported the decision, and Pepin had to put down a revolt led by Carloman's son, Drogo , and again by Grifo. As King of the Franks, Pepin embarked on an ambitious program to expand his power. He reformed the Franks' legislation and continued Boniface's ecclesiastical reforms. Pepin also intervened in favour of the Papacy of Stephen II against

7380-649: The territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire . Following the defeats of Napoleon in 1814–1815 the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size and the number of departments was reduced to 86 (three of the original departments having been split). In 1860 France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy , which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from

7470-455: The two rounds by a moderate party. After the 1992 election, the left had a majority in only 21 of the 100 departments; after the 2011 election, the left dominated 61 of the 100 departments. (Mayotte only became a department after the election.) Key to the parties: The removal of one or more levels of local government has been discussed for some years; in particular, the option of removing the departmental level. Frédéric Lefebvre , spokesman for

7560-559: Was conquered by Pepin in 767, as was Waiofar's capital of Bordeaux . As a result, Aquitanian nobles and Gascons from beyond the Garonne also saw no option but to accept a pro-Frankish peace treaty (Fronsac, c. 768). Waiofar escaped but was assassinated by his frustrated followers in 768. Pepin died on campaign in 768 at the age of 54. He was interred in the Basilica of Saint Denis in modern-day Metropolitan Paris . His wife Bertrada

7650-490: Was a project particularly identified with the French revolutionary leader the Abbé Sieyès , although it had already been frequently discussed and written about by many politicians and thinkers. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1665 in the writings of d'Argenson . They have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. The 1822 territorial division of Spain (reverted due to

7740-457: Was also interred there in 783. Charlemagne rebuilt the Basilica in honor of his parents and placed markers at the entrance. The Frankish realm was divided according to the Salic law between his two sons: Charlemagne and Carloman I . Historical opinion often seems to regard him as the lesser son and lesser father of two greater men, though a great man in his own right. He continued building up

7830-461: Was assisted by his friend Vergilius of Salzburg , an Irish monk who probably used a copy of the " Collectio canonum Hibernensis " (an Irish collection of canon law) to advise him to receive royal unction to assist his recognition as king. Anointed a first time in 751 in Soissons , Pepin added to his power after Pope Stephen II traveled to Paris to anoint him a second time in a lavish ceremony at

7920-472: Was created in the regained territory, with slightly different boundaries from the pre-war department of the same name. The reorganisation of Île-de-France in 1968 and the division of Corsica in 1975 added six more departments, raising the total in Metropolitan France to 96. By 2011, when the overseas collectivity of Mayotte became a department, joining the earlier overseas departments of

8010-542: Was deposed and confined to a monastery. He was the last of the Merovingians. Pepin was then elected King of the Franks by an assembly of Frankish nobles, with a large portion of his army on hand. The earliest account of his election and anointing is the Clausula de Pippino , written around 767. Meanwhile, Grifo continued his rebellion but was eventually killed in the battle of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in 753. Pepin

8100-493: Was the architect of the city for nearly 50 years in the 19th century. He designed the Reims Manège and Circus , which "combines stone and brick in a fairly sober classical composition." Examples of Art Deco in Reims include the Carnegie library . The Foujita Chapel , built in 1965–1966 over designs and with frescos by Japanese–French artist Tsuguharu Foujita , has been listed as a monument historique since 1992. Reims

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