Name/Title
StereographEntry/Object ID
2023.055.3.0291Description
A black and white stereograph. Image is of a cathedral. Above the image "T442 (Star)" is printed, below the image "3193T Restored Cathedral of Reims with Equestiran Stateu of Joan of Arch before It, France." is prined, to the left of the image "Keystone View Company COPYRIGHTED Manufacturers MADE IN U.S.A. Publishers" is printed, to the right of the image "Meadville, Pa., New York, N. Y., Chicago, Ill., London, England." is printed. On the reverse the following is printed:
3178
THE CATHEDRAL OF REIMS, AND STREET RESOTED SINCE THE WORLD WAR, FRANCE
Before us, marvelous in its grace of outine and richness of decoration, towers the cathedral of Reims, for 700 years one of the chief architectural glories and historic shrines of France. The main part of the building was completed by the year 1300; the west front, at which we are looking, during the following century. Most of the kings of France were crowned in this church, or in one of the earlier structres which preceded it, from the time of the coronations of Clovis in 496 to that of Charles X in 1824. The most notable of thes many coronations was that of Charles VII, who conducted to Reims for the ceremony by Joan of Arc in 1429, after her victory ove the English at Orelans.
In September, 1914, after their retreat from the Marne, the Germans bombarded Reims heavily. The cathedral suffered very severly, many of the pricelss sculptures and much fo the stone carving, both of its exterior and its interior, being damaged beyond repair by projectiels and by fire. Since the close of the war, however, painstaking restoration has been carried on, largely through the financial aid of certain walthy Americans, so that the structure today beginsto present once more much of its original perfection of form and detail. The city itself, though sections of it, such as the street along which we are looking, have been rebuilt, contains lareg areas which are still in ruins. years will elapse before ti can be thoroughly restored, and the populationw, which in 1914 amounted to 110,000 people, was still less than 75,000 in 1926.
Copyrigh by The Keystone View CompanyCollection
Photograph Collection