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Heritage

The Champagne region holds particular significance for French history. It was originally part of the Roman province of Gallia Belgica, which in the 5th Century became the seat of the Merovingian dynasty that ousted the Romans. At its head was the Frankish King Clovis, whose baptism in Rheims established the precedent for royal anointing in Rheims cathedral that ended with the last King of France, Charles X. In medieval times, Champagne was the venue of great annual trading fairs. In World War I it was the bloody battlefield of the Western Front, later coming to symbolise the reconciliation between France and Germany.
For 300 years the Champagne Houses have been adding to this exceptional heritage through the commissioning of architectural masterpieces that sing the praises of the King of Wines.


The Cathedral of Notre-Dame

1211

Without Rheims Cathedral, Champagne would not have the image that it enjoys today.
The Cathedral of Notre Dame of Rheims is among the World Heritage sites listed by UNESCO.


The Jean de La Fontaine Museum

1559

The birthplace of Jean de La Fontaine remains one of the loveliest private mansions in the town of Château-Thierry.


Château de Pierry

1734

Château de Pierry was built c. 1734 as a Gentilhommière (country retreat) for the count-bishop of Châlons-en-Champagne and peer of the realm, Monseigneur de Choiseul-Beaupré, whose personal history was intimately linked to the birth of Champagne wine itself.


Château de la Marquetterie

1764

Château de la Marquetterie is a gem of Louis Quinze style, preserved for posterity by Champagne House Taittinger.
The chateau clings to a Champagne hillside covered with vines, overlooking the western part of the village of Pierry south of Epernay.


Château de Mareuil-sur-Aÿ

1765

The Château de Mareuil dates back to 18th Century French nobleman Thomas de Domangeville who had it built as a home befitting his young bride. In the mid 19th Century the chateau passed into the hands of Edmond de Ayala, founder of the House of Ayala that retained ownership until the 1930s.


Château de Bligny

XVIIIe siècle

Château de Bligny is the joint headquarters of Champagne Houses G.H. Martel and de Cazanove, built in 1773 on top of the ruins of a feudal chateau. All that remains of the medieval Louis XIII-style castle today is the front door with its finely sculpted grape and vine branch motifs.


The Hôtel Ponsardin

1780

The Clicquot-Ponsardin Hôtel Particulier (private mansion) is situated in the heart of Reims, just two steps from the Place Royale. Built c.1780 by Jean-Nicolas-Philippe Ponsardin, textile industrialist and 18th Century French Baron, it is today the headquarters of the Rheims and Epernay Chamber of Commerce and Industry.


Hôtel Moët & Chandon

1793

Napoleon 1 and the Empress Josephine were among the many distinguished guests who once visited the Hôtel Moët & Chandon, which now forms part of the Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.


Château de Saran

1801

The Château de Saran is a privately owned stately home in the village of Chouilly. It was built in 1801 for Jean-Remy Moët, grandson of the founder of the chateau’s present owners, Champagne House Moët & Chandon, which entertains its most distinguished guests here.


Moulin de Verzenay

1818

Owned by G.H. Mumm and classified as a historic monument, the Moulin de Verzenay was built on the Mont-Bœuf in 1818 by the Tinot-Vincent couple, and was designed for the simultaneous milling of two types of grain.


The Joseph-Perrier cellars, lit by natural daylight

1824

Châlons-en-Marne, regional capital of Champagne-Ardennes, holds a special place in Champagne history as the home of the gleuco-œnomètre, a "wine sugar meter" that from 1831 onwards made it possible to control the rate of second fermentation in the bottle. Its inventor was Jean-Baptiste François, a pharmacist and former soldier in Napoleon’s Grande Armée, and his technique became known as the Reduction François.


Replica of the Palais Bourdon garden

1830

Walls can sometimes conceal strange secrets ... No-one would ever guess, for example, that behind the walls of this property in Cumières, owned by Champagne House Joseph Perrier, there is an exact replica of the botanical garden of the French National Assembly.


The Résidence de Trianon

1833

For more than 200 years the Résidence de Trianon has embodied luxury in the French style. The property with its orangery is one of two identical elements built for Jean-Rémy Moët in the period 1805-1817, making up an architectural complex that is said to have been designed by French decorator and miniature painter, Jean-Baptiste Isabey. Since 1967, following long occupation as a private residence, the Trianon has been reserved for the exclusive enjoyment of distinguished visitors to Moët & Chandon.


Château de Louvois

1850

This 13th Century château underwent substantial renovation following its acquisition by Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, French Secretary of State for War and close friend of the young Louis XIV, future Sun King.


Château de Boursault

1850

In 1843, Madame Clicquot commissioned the architect Jean-Jacques Arveuf-Fransquin to build her a chateau on the left bank of the Marne River, downstream from Epernay. The result was the Château de Boursault.


Cadoles de Champagne

1850

The Cadoles de Champagne are traditional dry stone huts on the Côte des Bar (Bar-sur-Seine and Bar-sur-Aube), built by winegrowers from the stones that lay around them and used to shelter from the weather in winter and summer alike.


Château Perrier

1854

In 1811 cork-manufacturer Pierre-Nicolas Perrier married Adèle Jouët and founded what was to become the celebrated House of Perrier-Jouët. In 1854 they commissioned the building of this Louis Treize style chateau.


Gueux Château and Park

1856

Formerly a Louis Roederer property, Gueux Chateau and Park has been home to Rheims’ golf club, famous for its world-class golf course, since 1928.


Hôtel Particulier Auban-Moët

1857

The building of this stately home in Epernay was commissioned c.1858 under the direction of architect Victor Lenoir, who also designed the Gare Montparnasse in Paris. In 1920 it became the Town Hall of Epernay.


Domaine Pommery — Hill of Saint Nicaise

1868

This Victorian-style estate, at the top of the Hill of Saint-Nicaise in Rheims, was built for Madame Louise Pommery (1819-1890) and remains a Pommery possession to this day.


Gustave Navlet’s works

1882-1884

These huge tableaux are sculpted directly in the soft chalk of the deepest crayères, up to 15m in length and 6m in height. They illustrate various bacchanalian scenes: "Silenus" and his Mad Maenads court in 1884; the "Festivals of Bacchus", an allegory of the five senses in 1883.


Hôpital Auban-Moët

1887

The Auban family is well known for its many donations in support of culture and the building of churches and private schools. But our principal focus here falls on their activities in the field of social welfare, and the building of the Hôpital Auban-Moët in particular. Victor Auban became an associate of Champagne House Moët & Chandon when he married his cousin Rachel Moët de Romont.


Foudre Mercier

1889

On 7 May 1889 the Foudre Mercier made its eagerly-awaited entrance at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Drawn by a team of 24 oxen all the way from Epernay, Mercier’s giant Champagne barrel was greeted as a worthy rival to the Eiffel Tower and received a rousing reception from the audience.


Pressoria

1890

In 2021 Champagne Pommery’s historic press house was repurposed as the Centre d’Interprétation Sensorielle Dédié aux Vins de Champagne (dedicated centre for the sensory appreciation of Champagne wines). Otherwise everything about the building itself remains unmistakably Pommery, starting with its neo-Elizabethan architecture inspired by the Pommery Head Office in Reims.


Tour de Castellane

1895

The de Castellane Champagne House was established in 1895 by Viscount Florens, headquartered in premises that were designed and constructed by the then famous architect Marius Toudoire.


The cellars and wine vaults of Mumm

1898

In 1898, the House of Mumm built cellars and offices close by the town hall, with two aims in mind: art and function. The building was the brainchild of architect Ernest Kalas and artist Auguste Guilbert-Martin and served as the headquarters of the Union des Maisons de Champagne from 1907 to 1914.


The Roederer-Boisseau Hospice

19 octobre 1899

At the close of the 19th Century, Madame Roederer, widow of Eugène Roederer and a great patron of religious works, built an old people’s hospice in the Rue de Courlancy. The hospice was opened on 19 October 1899 by the archbishop and other notable figures (among them Charles Heidsieck).


Hôtel de Venoge

1899

The Hôtel de Venoge was built in 1899, originally as the family home of Louis-Henri-Marcel Gallice (1854-1930), then president of premier Champagne House Perrier-Jouët. Since 2014 the house has been the Head Office of Champagne House de Venoge.


Fort Chabrol

1899

In 1900 Fort Chabrol became the site of the first "Practical School of Viticulture": a research and training centre founded by Champagne House Moët & Chandon that would play a trailblazing role in the fight against phylloxera.


Avenue de Champagne - Epernay

XVIII & XIXe siècle

The Avenue de Champagne (formerly the Avenue de Commerce) extends for nearly one kilometre, lined on both sides by magnificent private dwellings lovingly constructed over many centuries by the Champagne Houses. Some were originally built as a Head Office, others as the private home of the proprietor. All of them reflect an architectural style that celebrates the brand in particular and Champagne in general.


Gallé decorates a Pommery barrel

1903

A celebration of the friendship between Champagne and America by Master woodworker Emile Gallé.


Château des Crayères

1904

The Château des Crayères was built in 1904 at the top of the Hill of Saint Nicaise in Rheims, by Melchior de Polignac (grandson of Madame Pommery). The architecture is representative of its time: sober but with an air of majestic power.


The Champagne Sports Park

1908

First conceived in 1908, opened in 1910 and dedicated in 1912, the Parc Pommery was designed by the House of Pommery with the sole aim of providing access to sport for all. The park was then gifted to the city of Rheims and renamed the Parc de Champagne.


Villa Demoiselle

1909

An emblem of Rheims architecture, the Villa Demoiselle combines Art Nouveau and Art Deco to delightful effect. Take a trip back in time and step into a Champagne House that is graced with a uniquely refined decor.


Phare de Verzenay (Verzenay lighthouse)

1909

The Phare de Verzenay was the brainchild of Joseph GOULET, (son of Modeste GOULET, founder of the Goulet-Turpin branch of the family).


Maison Belle Epoque

1911

This gem of Art Nouveau architecture in Epernay is the property of Champagne House Perrier-Jouët and also the place where the brand entertains its most distinguished guests.


The testimony of the cellars

1914-1918

Drawings, inscriptions, graffiti … the chalk walls of the Champagne cellars are inscribed with simple messages that represent an important historical record. A priceless treasure at the heart of UNESCO World Heritage.


Our American allies, the great patrons of Rheims

1917

After joining the "Allies" in 1917, the United States eventually committed their forces to bring freedom to Europe in the two World Wars. Then from 1947 to 1951, they financed the "Marshall Plan" in aid of those countries that had been devastated by war.


American Memorial Hospital

1919

After the First World War, Mrs Edith Bangs, president of the American Memorial Hospital Foundation, canvassed the support of the great families on the American East Coast to fund a one hundred bed hospital in Rheims.
In April 1919, an American doctor named Marie-Louise Lefort arrived in Rheims with a large team to treat the victims of gas warfare.


Cité-jardin du Chemin-Vert

1919

In 1919, with Rheims in ruins after the ravages of the First World War, Joseph Krug proposed the idea for The Chemin-Vert Garden City. Construction was placed in the hands of the Foyer Rémois agency that was set up in 1912 by the industrialist Georges Charbonneaux.


Maison Henri Abelé - "Sourire de Reims"

1920

Founded in 1757, the Henri Abelé Champagne House (founded in Epernay by Théodore Van der Veken) is one of the oldest in the history of Champagne.


Reims Tennis Club

1920

Rheims Tennis Club was established by its first president, Count Maxence de Polignac, cousin of Melchior, Marquis of Polignac and director of the House of Pommery. The club was officially constituted on 11 June 1920 and took four years to build. Much is owed to the generous support of Mrs A M Dike and Mrs Anne Morgan of the Comité Américain pour les Régions Dévastées (CARD), and to the benevolence of its members and founding committee. The competition-standard open-air swimming pool was added the following summer. Count Maxence remained president of the club until 1933.


Maison Moët & Chandon

1923

C’est en 1793, alors qu’il vient de reprendre la conduite des affaires à la suite du décès de son père, que Jean-Rémy Moët fait construire l’hôtel Moët.


Hôtel de la Mutualité

1926

The Hôtel de la Mutualité was gafted to the town of Rheims by the House of Louis Roederer. Originally it also housed the music conservatory.


Jardin à la française

1926

This classic French formal garden forms a stunning backdrop to the magnificent property owned by Champagne House Billecart-Salmon in Mareuil-sur-Ay.


The Carnegie Library

1928

Generous American benefactor Andrew Carnegie gives Rheims an Art Deco library.
The library was built in the period 1921-1927, under the direction of Rheims architect Max Sainsaulieu (1870-1953), and formally opened on 10 June 1928 in the presence of French president Gaston Doumergue and US ambassador Myron T Herrick.


The Champagne stained glass window

1954

The Champagne stained-glass window that graces the south transept of Rheims Notre Dame Cathedral was generously sponsored by the Winegrowers and Houses of Champagne.


The Chapel of Notre-Dame de la Paix

1965

The Chapel of Notre-Dame de la Paix was entirely decorated by the Japanese artist Léonard Foujita (1886-1968) and gifted to the town of Rheims by René Lalou, president and director general of G.H. Mumm.


The cathedral clock and carillon

1988

The Rheims Cathedral clock and carillon form an inseparable part of the liturgical life overseen by the cathedral chapter. Today they ring out once more thanks to the patronage of Winegrowers and Champagne Houses, whose support was rewarded on 5 December 1988 with those long awaited first chimes.


Statuary of the cathedral’s central portal

1990

Restoration of the central portal vaulting.


Statue of the baptism of Clovis

1996

The year 1996 marked the passing of fifteen centuries since the baptism of Clovis by Saint-Remi, archbishop of Rheims. This event in 496 was effectively the founding moment for France and the beginning of Christian influence in Europe.


The "Beau Dieu" Statue

2004

The Statue du Beau Dieu that graces the exterior of the north transept of Rheims Cathedral has been restored to its full majesty thanks to the sponsorship of the House of Taittinger.


Vitraux d'Imi Knoebel

2011, 2015

En 2011, l’Etat français passe une commande à Imi Knoebel, artiste allemand, de six vitraux pour les chapelles d’abside qui encadrent la chapelle d’axe de la Cathédrale Notre Dame de Reims. Quatre ans plus tard, en 2015, trois nouveaux vitraux pour la chapelle Jeanne d’Arc, créés par le même artiste, sont offerts par l’Allemagne.


The Crayères of the Hill of St Nicaise

Ve siècle

First dug in the 3rd Century and worked until the time of the Revolution, these chalk pits (carrières) offer ideal conditions for the aging of Champagne: constant temperature, a complete absence of vibrations and a perfect level of humidity.


Abbaye d'Hautvillers

650

The Abbaye d’Hautvillers was founded by Saint Nivard, Archbishop of Rheims (nephew of King Dagobert of France), said to have appeared to the good clergyman in a dream. It was also famously the domain of Dom Pérignon (1639 - 1715), cellar master of the Abbey from 1668 to his death.


The residence of Tibaud IV

XIIIe siècle

The residence of the Counts of Champagne is a Taittinger property located in the heart of Rheims between the town hall and the cathedral. Built in the 13th Century, it served as the residence of Thibaud IV (1201–1253) and the Counts of Champagne in general when they came to Rheims for the anointing of the kings of France.


XIIIe siècle


Hôtel-Musée Le Vergeur

XIIIe siècle

The origins of the Hotel le Vergeur date back to the 13th Century and a time when markets were held in the Forum (on the vestiges of a Gallo-Roman forum that remain visible to this day). The Rue du Marc quarter was peopled by the gentry and bourgeoisie, close to the home of the Counts of Champagne (belonging to Taittinger). The Hotel Le Vergeur’s two levels of vaulted cellars suggest that the property originally traded in still Champagne wines.


The Marc Mansion

XIXe siècle

Built for Edouard Werlé, successor to Madame Clicquot and mayor of Rheims, the Marc Mansion, with its courtyard and garden, is a prime example of Rheims 19th Century architecture, reflecting the neo-classical influence of the preceding century.


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Manoir Henri Giraud

XIXème siècle

Champagne Henri Giraud has chosen to breathe new life into this listed 19th century residence. The spaces have been redefined to accommodate guests during a visit to Aÿ.