Châlons-en-Champagne

Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the department of Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims.

Formerly called Châlons-sur-Marne, the city was officially renamed in 1995. It should not be confused with the Burgundian town of Chalon-sur-Saône.

History

The city was a Gallic and later a Gallo-Roman settlement known in Latin as Catalaunum, taking its name from the Catalauni, a Belgic tribe dwelling in the region of modern Champagne.

Châlons is conjectured to be the site of several battles, including the Battle of Châlons, fought in 274 between Roman Emperor Aurelian and Emperor Tetricus I of the Gallic Empire, and the 451 Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, which turned back the westward advance of Attila.

The Hôtel de Ville was completed in 1776.

Plan de la cathedrale Châlons-sur-Marne 1859 Archives nationales France.jpg|Châlons-en-Champagne in 1623

Hotel de la Haute-Mère-Dieu Chalons BMReims.jpg|Hôtel de la Haute Mère Dieu in the 19th century

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Population

Main sights

thumb|160px|Cloister Notre-Dame-en-Vaux

Saint Étienne's cathedral, including parts of the first Romanesque cathedral built in the 12th century. Nevertheless, it was mainly rebuilt in Gothic style. The west façade (in Baroque style) and two close spans were added in the 17th century.
Notre-Dame-en-Vaux church, part of the UNESCO World Heritage. Built between 1157 and 1217, the collegiate church had a cloister and was a place of pilgrimage in the 12th century, and Museum du Cloître de Notre-Dame-en-Vaux 12th century.
Saint-Alpin, possibly the oldest church of the city. It was rebuilt around 1170 in a Gothic style, but still marked by the Romanesque style.
Hôtel de Ville (city hall): It has a façade representative of the neo-classic period of the end of the 18th century. The steps of the building are protected by four stone lions.
Porte Sainte-Croix (Sainte-Croix Gate), previously called Porte Dauphine, this gate was one of the entries into the city. It was dedicated to Marie Antoinette when she came via Châlons on her way to Paris to marry the future king Louis XVI.
La Dernière Relève ("The Last Relief"), a war memorial next to the cathedral, with group of bronzes by French sculptor Gaston Broquet.
Ancien Hotel des Intendants de Champagne (eighteenth century), today home to the Prefecture of the Champagne-Ardenne region and Prefecture of the Marne.
Le Cirque, the old town circus, completed in 1899, is sheltering the Centre National des Arts du Cirque (CNAC).

File:Hôtel de ville de Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne).JPG| Hôtel de Ville

File:Portail occidental et sud 9195.JPG| Châlons Cathedral

File:Châlons-en-Champagne_CollégialeND_R01.jpg|Notre-Dame-en-Vaux church

File:ND-en-Vaux 02.jpg|Cloister Notre-Dame-en-Vaux

File:St. Alpin, Chalons, France, 1907. (2788175494).jpg| Interior view of Saint-Alpin (1907).

File:Châlons-en-Champagne, the Porte Sainte-Croix.JPG|Sainte-Croix Gate

File:Châlons-en-Champagne_Monument_aux_Morts_R03.jpg|War memorial "The Last Relief"

File:Vue de Châlons-en-Champagne 220407.jpg| Old Town of Châlons

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Museums

Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Châlons-en-Champagne.
Musée Garinet
Musée du Cloître Notre-Dame-en-Vaux.

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The Collégiale Notre-Dame-en-Vaux, (XIIème siècle)

Inscrite au patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO, Notre-Dame-en-Vaux était une collégiale, c'est-à-dire qu'elle abritait une communauté de chamoines. L'église actuelle fut commencée avant 1157, en remplacement d'un édifice antérieur qui s'était écroulé. Sa reconstruction était achevée en 1217. Commencée en style "de transition" (intermédiaire entre le roman et le gothique), elle fut terminée en gothique. On y trouve un beau chevet avec abside gothique flanquée de deux tours romanes, mais aussi d'admirables verrières du XVIème siècle. Enfin, vous y verrez un des plus grand carillon d'Europe composé de 56 cloches datant du XIXème siècle.

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Cathédrale Saint Etienne

Le monument présente des parties romanes du XIIème siècle (crypte, tour du bras Nord dont le rez-de-chaussée abrite une rare verrière romane) mais fut reconstruit en style gothique rayonnant. L'abside, le transept et trois travées de la nef étaient achevés en 1261. Les chapelles rayonnantes et le déambulatoire furent ajoutés entre 1280 et 1310. La nef fut continuée à la fin du XVème siècle et au début du XVIème siècle. Entre 1628 et 1634, on éleva la façade occidentale (en style baroque) et les deux travées voisines. Cependant, la conception primitive de la nef fut conservées à travers les siècles par les constructeurs successifs, qui ont voulu lui préserver son unité. La cathédrale de Châlons-en-Champagne a conservé une remarquable parure de vitraux. Dans les bas-côté sud se trouve une intéressante série de vitraux de la fin du XVème siècle et du début du XVIème siècle. Ceux de l'autre bas-côté ont été faits au XIXème siècle dans le goût du XIIIème siècle. Ceux des bras du transept sud datent du XXème siècle. De très nombreuses dalles funéraires gravées du XIIIème siècle au XVIIème siècle sont incrustées dans le pavage ou relevés le long des murs. Elles se caractérisent par une grande élégance du dessin.

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Église Saint-Alpin

L'église est placée sous le vocable de Saint Alpin, évêque de Châlons au début du Vème siècle. Elle existait déjà au IXème siècle et a été reconstruite vers 1170 dans un style gothique encore marqué par le style roman. De cette époque, il subsiste la nef – 6 travées dont les arcades richement moulurées reposent alternativement sur des piles fortes et des piles faibles – et les collatéraux. Vers 1230, on entreprit de rajeunir l'édifice en voûtant la nef et les collatéraux, sans modifier l'élévation intérieure. Plus tard, le transept et son croisillon nord furent remaniés. C'est au début du XVIème siècle que l'on construisit un nouveau chœur polygonal, entouré d'un déambulatoire dépourvu de chapelles rayonnantes, mais percé de grandes fenêtres que de riches donateurs parrent de splendides verrières colorées. On ajouta sur toute la longueur du bas-côté sud une série de chapelles qui conservent un ensemble remarquable de vitraux en grisaille. Les verrières du déambulatoire, mises en place entre 1515 et 1522 environ, juxtaposent souvent de petites scènes, à la gamme colorée éclatante, où apparaissent des inscriptions placées dans des banderoles décoratives.-->

Transport

thumb|right|The station

The Gare de Châlons-en-Champagne railway station is served by the TGV network with service to and from Paris Gare de l'Est. Other destinations are Reims, Saint-Dizier, Nancy, Bar-le-Duc and Verdun. Additionally, Châlons is connected with the Champagne-TGV station, near Reims, with high speed trains going to Lille, Nantes, Rennes and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Châlons is located at the intersection of two major axes:

A4 motorway, going from Paris to Strasbourg, towards Reims and Metz
A26 motorway, going from Lille to Lyon, towards Reims, Troyes and Dijon.

Châlons is also served by an international airport devoted to shipping (Châlons Vatry Airport [https://web.archive.org/web/20060523053616/http://www.vatry.com/]), with an average of 16,0000 tons of freight passing through each year.

Local transportation is provided by SITAC BUS buses.

Education

University level

thumb|The [[Arts et Métiers ParisTech (1806).]]

Arts et Métiers ParisTech (ENSAM), a national engineering graduate school. This teaching and research center was established in 1806. Students can attend courses focused on mechanical and industrial engineering.
Centre national des arts du cirque (CNAC), which is a Circus Arts Learning Centre created in 1985. Each year about twenty students learn all the disciplines of modern circus arts.
Institut Universitaire Technologique (IUT) of Reims, Châlons, Charleville, a branch of the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA)
Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres (IUFM), a branch of the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA)

Sport

ESPE Basket Châlons-en-Champagne is a Châlons' basketball team. A temporary firing range was used for some shooting events at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Twin towns – sister cities

Châlons-en-Champagne is twinned with:

Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
Ilkeston, England, United Kingdom
Mirabel, Canada
Neuss, Germany
Razgrad, Bulgaria
Wittenberge, Germany

Camp de Mourmelon

The Camp de Mourmelon (formerly known as Camp de Châlons) is a military camp of circa 10,000 hectares located near Mourmelon-le-Grand north. It was created at the behest of Napoleon III and opened 30 August 1857 during the Second French Empire.

The initial purpose was simply for practising military manoeuvres, but it quickly turned into a showcase of the French Imperial Army, a theatrical propaganda display, where French citizens could meet the army and watch parades. Each year the camp was transformed into a town of tents and wooden chalets.

The camp survived the fall of the Second Empire in 1870, but changed into a training camp and a departure point for troops engaging in overseas operations.

The camp is used for military manoeuvres, and cavalry training, along with the neighbouring, 2,500 hectare, Camp de Moronvillers. Firing of live ordnance (rockets, missiles) is prohibited.

Births

Châlons-en-Champagne was the birthplace of:

Martin Akakia (1497–1551)
Thierry Beschefer (1630–1711), Jesuit missionary
David Blondel (1591–1655), Protestant clergyman
Claude D'Espence (1511–1571) French theologian
Jean Talon (1626–1694), first Intendant of New France
Antoine de Chézy (1718–1798), hydraulics engineer
Nicolas Appert (1749–1841), inventor of "appertisation" for the preservation of food
Jean-Baptiste Charbonnier (1764–1859), composer and organist
Joseph-François Mangin (1764–1818), designer of the St. Patrick's Old Cathedral and the New York City Hall
Madeleine Chapelle (1782–1849), wife and model of the painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Henri Dagonet (1823–1902), psychiatrist
Adolphe Willette (1857–1926), painter
Maurice Renard (1875–1939), writer
Etienne Oehmichen (1884–1955), engineer, considered father of the helicopter
Robert Louis Antral (1895–1939) painter
Jacques Massu (1908–2002), paratrooper, general
Cabu (1938–2015), comic strip artist and caricaturist
Maryvonne de Saint-Pulgent (born 1951), senior civil servant and musicologist
Mano Solo (1963–2010), singer
Xavier Bertrand (born 1965), politician

Deaths

Châlons-en-Champagne was the death place of:

Jean-Baptiste Charbonnier (1764–1859), composer and organist
George Canning, 1st Baron Garvagh (1778–1840), diplomat and Fellow of the Royal Society of London, nephew to British Prime Minister George Canning (1770–1827)
Clyde Fitch, American dramatist

In popular culture

It is the setting of the last operetta of Johann Strauss II, Die Göttin der Vernunft (The Goddess of Reason), (1897).
The town is also mentioned in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown as where Snoopy crashes his doghouse/"Sopwith Camel" in territory held by the Imperial German Army, after losing an imaginary aerial dogfight against the Red Baron.