Part 15

_The journey to =Châlons= (106 km.) presents no difficulties, it being merely necessary to follow_ N. 33, _which passes through Chaintrix and Thibie. We enter Châlons by the Avenue de Paris, then take the Rue du Faubourg-de-la-Marne on the left. Cross the railway, then the Marne, and continue straight along the Rue de la Marne. Here cross the canal, leaving the cathedral on the right. Before arriving at the Place de Ville turn to the right into the Rue des Lombards, which leads to the Place de la République, where the hotels will be found._

III

THE PASS OF REVIGNY

CHÂLONS--VITRY--BAR-LE-DUC

CHÂLONS

ORIGIN AND CHIEF HISTORICAL FACTS

Châlons is of very ancient origin and was in the third century the capital of the "Catalauni." In that part of the Plain of Champagne which surrounds it, known as "the Catalaunian Fields," numerous invasions were brought to nothing. The invasion of 1914 recalled the epoch of Attila's Huns, who were beaten here in 451 by the Roman General Actius; Merovic, King of the Franks; and Theodoric, King of the Visigoths. It is between Châlons and Troyes, rather nearer the latter town, that the most eminent authorities assume this great victory over barbarism to have taken place.

Up to the eighteenth century the bishopric of Châlons was one of the most important in France.

CHÂLONS IN 1914

The town, which had been evacuated by three-quarters of its inhabitants, received a few shells on September 4. Some of the stained glass windows of the cathedral were smashed; a part of the roof of the Hôtel-Dieu was broken in, and the children's ward, which was fortunately empty, received a 4·2 shell.

Saxon troops entered the town at 4 p.m., and the Mayor, M. Bernard, having left, M. Servas--his deputy--took over the direction of municipal affairs. The bishop, Mgr. Tissier, and the Abbé Laisnez, his chaplain, were equally heroic during these tragic times. A contribution of £1,200,000 was demanded for the Department of the Marne by the Germans. Mgr. Tissier was able to persuade them to lower it to £20,000 for Châlons.

From September 7 to 11, great numbers of German wounded came in, and were treated in the military hospital, the Hôtel-Dieu, the town-hall, and, when these overflowed, in the barracks, the college, and even in private houses. On September 11 the Saxon troops left the town hurriedly, and on the 12th the French re-took possession.

VISIT TO THE TOWN

(See map opposite)

Of great interest: the Cathedral (_pp. 199-202_); Notre-Dame (_pp. 203-205_); Notre-Dame-de-l'Épine (_pp. 210-212_).

Of interest: Saint Alpin (_pp. 206-207_); to archæologists: Saint-Jean (_p. 207_); pretty walk: the Jard (_p. 208_).

=Cathedral of Saint-Stephen= (historical monument)

(See map opposite)

The Cathedral has had a very eventful history. It dates from the Carolingian times, and was destroyed in 963, when the town was taken by Robert of Vermandois. It was rebuilt, only to be destroyed again in 1138 by a fire, caused by lightning. It was once more rebuilt and enlarged, but in 1230 a similar disaster overtook it. The rebuilding this time took many years to accomplish, for at the beginning of the fifteenth century the nave was unfinished and the western doorway not yet begun.

In 1520 there was set up in the north tower of the transept (see photo below) a wooden spire covered with lead and richly ornamented, about 310 feet in height. In 1628 the two final bays of the nave were completed and the western doorway entirely built (photo above). Unfortunately, its style jars with the Gothic of the rest of the church. In 1668 the cathedral was struck by lightning for the third time; the spire fell and drove in the vaulting and the crypt. After another restoration, the two towers of the transept were embellished with stone spires, which were reconstructed in 1821, but, later, removed. In 1850 the south front of the transept was entirely rebuilt. In 1862 all the sixteenth century chapels in the aisles off the nave were done away with. Quite recently the two towers, together with the doorways of the transept, have been restored.

On the whole the cathedral is an imposing edifice. We have seen above that the west front dates from the seventeenth century and is in the Classical style. Corinthian columns and pilasters flank a Gothic rose-window. A balcony runs along each storey, and a pediment surmounts the whole. A much damaged bas-relief above the entrance-door represents the stoning of Saint Stephen. The long nave, with its lines of elegant flying-buttresses, rejoins the transept, of which the north front (photo opposite) is the most interesting. The southern one was completely rebuilt in the nineteenth century.

The north tower of the transept is the older. The lower part of it dates back to the ancient Romanesque cathedral. The walls are pierced by round-arched bays. The south tower belongs to the thirteenth century. Its bays are Gothic in style. Three radial chapels, dating probably from the fourteenth century, open off the apse.

In the interior the nave comprises nine bays, the first two of which, starting from the west front, date from the seventeenth century; the others, and also the choir and transept, are of the thirteenth century.

As in the Cathedral of Rheims, the choir advances into the nave, of which it occupies two bays. The high altar, under a canopy (see photograph below), supported by marble pillars, belongs to the seventeenth century. In the north branch of the transept is a fine sixteenth century bas-relief representing Christ lying in His tomb (_see p. 201_), which is attributed to Ligier-Richier, the Lorraine master, whose masterpiece we shall see in St. Peter's Church at Bar-le-Duc (_p. 245_). The cathedral is paved with tombstones. The most beautiful ones are to be seen in the ambulatory, especially two adjoining the pillars of the choir.

In the sacristy, which opens off the south branch of the transept, may be seen the treasure (_see p. 201_). This is composed of a little thirteenth century enamelled brass shrine called Saint Rémy's, with medallions representing the apostles; and a twelfth century mitre and shoe, said to be Saint Malachy's. The mitre is of red silk embroidered in gold and silver; the shoe is of red leather inlaid with gold.

The stained glass windows of the cathedral are very remarkable, although most of them have been restored. The three upper windows at the back of the apse belong to the thirteenth century, as also the rose-window in the north arm of the transept dedicated to the childhood of Christ, and the twelve panels of the triforium representing the apostles.

=Lights in the first south window= (fifteenth century stained glass)

The stained glass windows of the north aisle are almost all modern, and in imitation of the style of the thirteenth century. Those of the south aisle belong to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, except the ninth window nearest the transept, which dates from the thirteenth century. Our illustration give an idea of the simple yet skilful composition of these little masterpieces, but cannot reproduce the beauty of their colouring.

=Lights in the first south window= (fifteenth century stained glass)

The second window on the south represents scenes from the life of the Virgin. The third and fourth are devoted to Christ; the fifth to the life and stoning of Saint Stephen; the sixth to the Virgin, and different saints and donors; the seventh to the life of Christ; the eighth to the life and miracles of Christ; the ninth to the baptism of Christ and to various saints. All this stained glass has been removed and put into a place of safety for the duration of the war.

=Notre-Dame de Vaux= (historical monument)

(See map inserted between pp. 198-199)

Like the cathedral, Notre-Dame dates back to Carolingian times. In the eleventh century it possessed no transept, but included a semi-circular apse flanked by two towers, on the site of which rise the two present ones (_see p. 205_), which date from the twelfth century and recall those of the cathedral. There remains of the twelfth century Romanesque church, besides almost the whole of the transept, the south door under the porch, the pillars and the aisles of the nave, as well as the ground floor of the west front.

In 1157 Notre-Dame collapsed, and was partly reconstructed. The apse was rebuilt with three radial chapels. In the nave and choir the round arches of the tribunes and arcades were replaced by pointed ones: the walls were raised in height and pierced by windows, below which was established a triforium (photo below). Gothic vaulting in the nave and transept replaced the wooden roof. The two storeys and the pinnacle of the west front, between the towers, belong also to this period.

In the fourteenth century the four towers were surmounted by wooden spires covered with lead, painted and gilded. To the fifteenth century belongs the beautiful porch in the Flamboyant style which precedes the south door of the twelfth century. The Revolution destroyed three of the four spires in order to utilise the lead, and mutilated the sculptures of the doors. Notre-Dame was completely restored about 1852. The steeple of the north tower of the west front was reconstructed, but the towers of the apse remained despoiled of the elevated pyramids which gave to Notre-Dame a very characteristic silhouette recognisable in the centre of the old engraving reproduced on _p. 198_.

The south porch, visible in the opposite photograph, was built in 1469. The bay is surmounted by an angular pediment, and the gable is ornamented by graceful arcading in the Flamboyant style.

The south front of the transept (photograph opposite) which adjoins the Gothic porch, is a fine piece of work in the Romanesque style, with its round arches and its sculptured rose-windows. The little thirteenth century sun-dial on the buttress in the middle-front below the windows is worthy of note. It is one of the oldest known.

The interior of Notre-Dame is simple and dignified (see below and on p. 203). It has been completely restored. The pillars which support the arcades are those of the early Romanesque church (see photograph p. 205). Their capitals are finely sculptured. Above the lower arcades runs a gallery which opens on to the choir and nave by means of bays composed of twin lights. A little triforium separates this gallery from the higher windows (see below).

The windows of the aisles of Notre-Dame are filled with beautiful sixteenth century stained glass, which at the beginning of the war was taken down and put away for fear of damage from air-raids. We reproduce a panel from one of them, which represents the donor kneeling in prayer to Saint Martha, her patron saint, who is trampling under foot the "Tarasque," a mythical monster of Tarascon. The saint is subduing it by sprinkling it with holy water.

The principal stained-glass windows in the north aisle are: in the first window beginning at the great doorway, the battle of "las Novas de Tolosa" won by the Spaniards over the Moors in the thirteenth century; donors; patrons; the transfiguration. The next window deals with the death and coronation of the Virgin and represents the donors (_the panel reproduced on p. 205 belongs to this window_). The third window is dedicated to the life of Saint Anne and the Virgin; the fourth represents the Adoration, the Massacre of the Innocents, the Flight into Egypt, the last Supper; the fifth, the Passion; the sixth, the Ascension, the Virgin, Christ crowned; patrons and donors. In the south aisle, the first window represents the life of Saint James, the Transfiguration, Christ appearing to his disciples; the second, scenes from the life of the Virgin; the third, the Last Supper; the fourth, the life of the Virgin and the legend of Saint James.

As in all the churches in the neighbourhood, mortuary stones are numerous.

=Church of Saint Alpin= (historical monument)

(See map inserted between pp. 198-199)

This was at first merely a chapel dedicated to Saint Andrew. In the ninth century it was placed under the patronage of Saint Alpin, when the body of this Bishop of Châlons was transported there.

Saint Alpin, like Saint Loup at Troyes, and Saint Geneviève in Paris, went out to confront Attila, and succeeded in obtaining a promise that the town should be spared by the "Scourge of God." A sixteenth century stained-glass window (the first in the south aisle) commemorates this episode in the life of the saint (photograph below). The bishop, his mitre on his head, the cross in his hand, surrounded by clergy and laymen, is pleading the cause of the town before the King of the Huns, seated on a sumptuous throne amidst his warriors. At the foot of the throne are captives in chains.

As we have seen on p. 198, fifteen centuries later the same scene was enacted. In September, 1914, Mgr. Tissier, Saint Alpin's successor in the bishopric of Châlons, was obliged to plead for his town with the invaders.

The Church of Saint Alpin was reconstructed and enlarged in the twelfth century. From this period date the west front (see above), the nave and its side aisles. The north branch of the transept belongs to the fourteenth century, the south branch to the sixteenth.

The apse goes back to the sixteenth century, as does the tower surmounting the middle of the transept, also the chapels of the side aisles. At the same period, doors leading into each aisle were pierced on either side of the doorway of the West Front.

The church was subjected to important repairs in the nineteenth century, and statues of Saint Andrew and Saint Alpin, its two patrons, were installed in niches on either side of the central doorway.

In the interior we find a fine collection of sixteenth century stained glass in the windows of the south aisle and of the ambulatory. As in the other churches in Châlons, the war caused them to be removed to a place of safety. We reproduce two of them: Saint Alpin before Attila (see p. 206), and the life of the Virgin (photo opposite).

In the latter the top of the right hand light represents the birth of the Virgin; the lower portion of the middle light, the Presentation in the Temple. Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, bringing the sacrificial lambs and doves, lead Mary to the high priest. The upper portion of this light depicts the glorification of the Virgin. On the left of the window is Saint Martha, in a rich Renaissance costume, holding in her hand the vessel of holy water and the sprinkler which she used to subdue the "Tarasque" (_see p. 205_).

Mortuary stones are also to be seen here; and let into the wall of the ambulatory is a beautiful sixteenth century bas-relief of the Virgin and Child; two donors and their patrons. On one of the southern pillars of the transept is a fine "_Ecce homo_" on a background of gold, also of the sixteenth century.

=Church of St. John= (historical monument)

(See map inserted between pp. 198-199)

This church is the most ancient building in Châlons. The nave dates from 1050; the choir, the apse, and the transept belong to the thirteenth century; the principal front to the fourteenth. The tower of the transept was built in the seventeenth, when the side aisles were vaulted and reconstructed. The Romanesque nave with its round arches, has a seventeenth century wooden vault; but above it, the wooden framework of the interior of the roof contains some skilful fourteenth century carpentry. The capitals and the pillars are very plain and some seem to be anterior to the eleventh century; the branches of the transept are doubled by side-aisles transformed into chapels, which flank the choir. The apse terminates in a flat wall. Important restorations were carried out in this old church in the nineteenth century.

The Jard

(See map inserted between pp. 198-199)

The Jard is a very pretty park of extremely ancient origin, being mentioned in thirteenth century documents. The marshy ground was drained, raised, and planted with trees. In the eighteenth century it was laid out as it is to-day. The walks were bordered with elms which, after a century of existence, were cut down in 1870 and replaced by horse-chestnut trees. _On Sundays and Thursdays concerts are given here._

The garden, which occupies the north-east portion of the Jard and reaches the banks of the Nau Canal, was made in 1861 for a horticultural exhibition. The old seventeenth century castle of Marché, now transformed into the savings bank, looks on to this canal. The photograph opposite gives an idea of its picturesque aspect.

The English garden stretches between the canal and the Marne. It was laid out in the beginning of the nineteenth century. A foot-bridge (photo below) connects it with the Jard. From the top of this bridge there is a pretty view of the canal which divides at this point to surround a wooded isle.

Other Monuments and Objects of Interest

(See map inserted between pp. 198-199)

Church of Saint Loup

This dates from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but was rebuilt in the nineteenth. The front, the tower, and the spire which rises above the transept are entirely modern, and the old seventeenth century doorway has been removed to the courtyard of the museum in the town-hall.

In the interior, in the second chapel of the right aisle, is a little sixteenth century Flemish triptych representing the "Adoration of the Wise Men." At the end of the right aisle, near the branch of the transept, is a fifteenth century wooden carving of Saint Christopher.

Hôtel de Ville

The present building replaced at the end of the eighteenth century the old Renaissance town-hall. It contains the library and the museum, the latter looking on the Place Godart. Enter by the Rue d'Orfeuil (_open to the public on Thursdays and Sundays, from noon to 5 p.m. and every day to visitors to the town_). The museum contains interesting collections of sculpture, ancient paintings, and a natural history section.

Préfecture

This, built in the eighteenth century, was formerly the hôtel of the "Intendance de Champagne." The north wing was built in 1846. The préfecture contains a remarkably fine fifteenth century chimney-piece (photo below), on which is carved a mythological triumphal procession, flanked by figures representing faith and charity.

Sainte-Croix Gate

Here is a triumphal arch erected in 1770 for the passage of Marie-Antoinette, on her arrival in France to wed the Dauphin. It was never finished.

National School of Arts and Crafts

This institution, founded by Napoléon in 1806, is one of the five important State schools for turning out engineers and skilled foremen. The buildings are of the eighteenth century. The school possesses fine laboratories and industrial collections.

Sainte-Croix and Saint-Jean Avenues

Both are fine avenues, remains of the boulevards which surrounded the town.

The Military Cemetery

Rue Kellerman, in the eastern part of the town, near the cavalry quarters, is on a lower level than the old civilian cemetery. It contains the remains of several thousand soldiers who died in the hospitals of the town.

=Notre-Dame de l'Épine= (historical monument)

(See plan inserted between pp. 198-199 and map between pp. 212-213)

In order to reach Notre-Dame de l'Épine, which is eight kilometres from Châlons, _leave Châlons by the Avenue de Metz, which begins at Saint-Jean Square. This avenue rejoins_ N. 3, _in which turn to the right. It is a straight road to l'Épine._ Notre-Dame comes into view suddenly at the entrance to the village, which, as the above photo shows, has suffered greatly. A large number of its houses have been destroyed by fire, but the old church had a miraculous escape. Notre-Dame, which dates from the fifteenth century, replaced an earlier edifice built on the spot where, according to legend, a heavenly light disclosed a statue of the Virgin in a bush. From the beginning of the thirteenth century, pilgrims flocked to say their prayers at the foot of the miraculous statue. Although now seven hundred years old this pilgrimage still retains its famous reputation.

The church was built by the inhabitants of the district, pious workmen coming from as far as Bar and Verdun; and the expression "aller à l'Épine," meaning to work for nothing, still exists. The church was finished in the sixteenth century. Three doorways in the fifteenth century front open on the ground floor, and are surmounted by angular pediments. The central doorway, the largest and most interesting of the three, is dedicated to Christ. A crucifix is to be seen in the centre of the pediment. In the tympanum is represented the Birth of Christ; and scenes from the Passion are carved on the lintel. A sixteenth century Virgin, holding in her arms the Infant Jesus, stands with her back to the pier which supports the tympanum and divides the entrance into two parts. The curve of the arch and the side doors of the porch were ornamented with sculptures, of which many now are missing or mutilated. A beautiful rose-window and two large windows light the front below the towers.

The spires of unequal height are of stone, and are formed of eight branches united in a crown in their middle: that on the right is a royal crown with the lilies; that on the left is an imperial one, bearing eight eagles. In 1798 Claude Chappe, the inventor of aerial telegraphy, installed an apparatus on the left spire. This was destroyed, but was restored again in the nineteenth century.

Walk round the exterior of the church in order to examine the succession of gargoyles projecting from the buttresses. They have been carved in a keen, satirical spirit.

The south doorway is flanked by two turrets, each containing a stairway. All the statues which ornamented the curve of the arch, the jambs and the pier are missing. On the much-damaged lintel is a representation of the life of Saint John the Baptist. The doorway is dominated by a beautiful window. The chapels round the apse were added in the sixteenth century.