Abbey of Saint-Remi
| Former Abbey of Saint-Remi, Reims | |
|---|---|
| Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List | |
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| Location | France |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii, vi |
| Reference | 601 |
| UNESCO region | Europe and North America |
| Coordinates | 49°14′35″N 4°2′31″E / 49.24306°N 4.04194°ECoordinates: 49°14′35″N 4°2′31″E / 49.24306°N 4.04194°E |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1991 (15th Session) |
The Abbey of Saint-Remi is an abbey in Reims, France, founded in the sixth century. Since 1099 it has conserved the relics of Saint Remi (died 553), the Bishop of Reims who converted Clovis, King of the Franks, to Christianity at Christmas in AD 496, after he defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac.
The present basilica was the abbey church; it was consecrated by Pope Leo IX in 1049. The eleventh-century nave and transepts, in the Romanesque style, are the oldest; the façade of the south transept is the most recent.
The obscure origins of the great abbey at Reims lie in a little chapel of the sixth century dedicated to Saint Christopher, its success was founded on its acquisition of the relics of St. Remy in 553: subsequently gifts poured in upon it from pious donors. By the ninth century the abbey possessed about seven hundred domains and was perhaps the most richly endowed in France. It seems probable that secular priests were the first guardians of the relics, but were succeeded by the Benedictines. From 780 to 945 the archbishops of Reims served as its abbots. At the abbey Charlemagne received Pope Leo III.
In 1005 the abbot Aviard undertook to rebuild the church of St-Remy, and for twenty years the work went on uninterruptedly before vaulting collapsed, no doubt from insufficient buttressing. Abbot Theodoric erected the magnificent surviving basilica which Pope Leo IX dedicated in 1049 and to which he granted many privileges. The abbey library and its schools were of such high repute that Pope Alexander III wrote a commendatory letter to the Abbot Peter, which survives.
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