Centre des monuments nationaux

Come and visit the Palais du Tau in Reims and discover a royal and episcopal residence associated with the coronation of 32 French kings, from the 11th century to Charles X in 1825. Both the palace and the neighbouring cathedral are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Visiting the Palais du Tau in Reims 

• The chapel (1207). The lower chapel houses part of the cathedral's rood screen dating from the 15th century. The upper chapel gives a feeling of great lightness.

• The Tau room. This great Gothic room is where the ceremony of the awakening and dressing of the King took place before the coronation, and where the banquet was held for several thousand people. 

• The musée de l'Œuvre. The museum houses major sculpted works from the Cathedral, Flemish tapestries depicting the history of Clovis, and the treasure composed of coronation objects and precious works given by the kings and queens of France.

Understanding the Palais du Tau in Reims 

• The origin of its name. The palace derives its name from its T-shaped layout (‘tau' in Greek); the first documented use of this name dates from 1131.

• The tradition of coronations. The tradition according to which French kings were crowned here is in memory of the baptism of Clovis by Saint Rémi in Reims circa 496.

• The palace's architecture. A palace already existed here in Roman times. It was modified on several occasions before being transformed into a neo-Classical palace between 1671 and 1710 under the supervision of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the first architect of King Louis XIV, and Robert de Cotte, his disciple and principle collaborator.