REIMS CATHEDRAL скачать в хорошем качестве

REIMS CATHEDRAL

The original church on this site was the basilica where Clovis was baptized by Saint Remi, bishop of Reims, in 496 AD. A later cathedral was built on the same site, but it burned down in 1211. The new cathedral was built immediately after. Notre-Dame de Reims (Our Lady of Reims) is the seat of the Archdiocese of Reims, where the kings of France were crowned. The most memorable moments of the cathedral are the coronation of Charles Vii on July 17, 1429, with Joan of Arc who liberated the town from the English and the coronation of Napoleon I on December 2, 1804. The three portals are laden with statues and statuettes; among European cathedrals, only Chartres has more sculpted figures. The treasury contains the Sainte Ampoule, or holy flask, the successor of the ancient one that contained the oil with which French kings were anointed. The most important part of the French coronation ceremony was not the coronation itself, but the Sacre – the anointing or unction of the king. The unction served as a reminder of the baptism of king Clovis I in Rheims by archbishop Saint Remi in 496/499, where the ceremony was finally transferred in 816 and completed with the use of the Holy Ampulla found in 869 in the grave of the Saint. Since this Roman glass vial containing the balm due to be mixed with chrism, was allegedly brought by the dove of the Holy Spirit, the French monarchs claimed to receive their power by divine right.