The Chalk Cellars of Saint-Nicaise Hill, Reims

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1

   Find the Architect Holding His Lost Church

   history Free

   A free find in Reims Cathedral: the tomb slab of the man who began the Saint-Nicaise church.

   Hugues Libergier began the abbey church of Saint-Nicaise in 1229 or 1231. After the Revolution it was sold, used as a quarry and destroyed between 1798 and 1805; his tomb slab survived.

   WHERE: Reims Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame), in the north arm of the transept, against the inside of its end wall.

   WHAT: Find a 13th-century engraved slab 2.75 m tall: a man standing face-on, a model of a church on his right forearm, a staff in his left hand, a square and a compass by his feet. Its cellars survive under Taittinger, later on this route.

   HOW: The cathedral opens every day from 8:00 and entry is free; doors close at 19:30 (19:15 on Sundays and feast days), with no entry in the last quarter-hour.

   BACKUP: On Sunday until noon visitors may enter only the narthex, so come in the afternoon.

   Log Memory
2. 2

   Read the Floor of the Vanished Church

   history Free

   Free: 48 engraved slabs from the lost church's choir, in the Basilica Saint-Remi.

   The choir of the Saint-Nicaise church was paved with engraved stone slabs of Old Testament scenes, their lines filled with lead: perhaps 200 of them, laid while its windows were being given, between 1290 and 1310. 48 survived.

   WHERE: Basilica Saint-Remi (Basilique Saint-Remi), Place Chanoine Ladame, Reims, along the north aisle wall.

   WHAT: Find the 48 slabs, set in the order of the Bible stories, and pick out the building of the Ark, Lot's wife turned to salt, Jacob wrestling the angel and the crossing of the Red Sea. Some of them once paved a house in Verzenay; its later owner, Veuve Clicquot, traded them to the city of Reims in 1846 for new ones.

   HOW: Entry is free; the basilica opens every day from 8:30 to 19:00 (in the low season it may close at 17:00), with no visits during services. Taittinger's door is 311 m away as the crow flies.

   BACKUP: If a service is on (Sunday masses are at 8:45 and 10:30), wait for it to end.

   Log Memory
3. 3

   Go Under the Abbey at Taittinger

   history Price: moderate

   Taittinger's visit goes 18 metres down into the abbey's own cellars.

   Benedictine monks raised the abbey of Saint-Nicaise here in the 13th century; its vaults and basements, which the UNESCO site body calls old Gallo-Roman chalk pits, are intact under Taittinger, which has occupied the site since 1935. Down there, 20 crayères are joined by 4 km of barrel-vaulted cellars, some of them the abbey's own 13th-century cellars; about 2 million bottles rest 18 metres down, the Comtes de Champagne among them. Taittinger dates its oldest pits to the 4th century. In 1914–1918, the house says, Reims families sheltered here: a school named after General Augustin Dubail ran in these cellars, and 250 people lived in this one at the same time.

   WHERE: Champagne Taittinger, 9 place Saint-Nicaise, Reims.

   WHAT: Take the Instant Rosé visit: a film, a guided walk through the chalk pits and the remains of the 13th-century abbey, then Brut Réserve and Prestige Rosé. Watch the walls: the house says civilians and soldiers left their marks in the chalk, among them "Tutur", "Toto de la Butte", portraits of women and an RF in a heart with a four-leaf clover. Ask your guide whether today's route passes the graffito the house says Francesco Baracca left in 1912, the Italian pilot whose prancing horse Enzo Ferrari took as his emblem.

   HOW: Book at book-a-visit.taittinger.fr, in French or English: Instant Rosé €40 (1 h 10, up to 20 people) or Instant Comtes de Champagne €90 (1 h 45, up to 12). Arrive 5–10 minutes early and bring a warm layer: the cellars are about 12°C. No animals.

   BACKUP: Veuve Clicquot, 1 rue Albert Thomas, 521 m away, runs cellar visits from €36 (Tuesday–Sunday until 1 November 2026, then Wednesday–Sunday to 3 January 2027).

   Log Memory
4. 4

   Walk Down 116 Steps to Navlet's Maraudeurs

   adventure Price: moderate

   Down Pommery's 116-step staircase to chalk carved by candlelight.

   Louise Pommery was widowed in 1858, at 39. In 1868 she bought 50 hectares of these heights, over 18 km of galleries, and turned 120 chalk pits into cellars, finished by a staircase of 116 steps and opened in 1878. From 1882 to 1884 Gustave Navlet carved scenes straight into the chalk, some 15 m long and 6 m high, working by candlelight for more than two years.

   WHERE: Domaine Pommery, 5 place du Général Gouraud, Reims.

   WHAT: Take the self-guided visit down the 116 steps to 30 metres. At the foot of the staircase, find Navlet's Maraudeurs (1882), putti carved in the spirit of the Renaissance; then look for his Fête de Bacchus (1883), an allegory of the five senses.

   HOW: Buy a self-guided ticket from the house: €30 with a glass of Brut Royal, €34 with Royal Blue Sky or Grand Cru Millésime 2015; ages 10–17 €15, under 10 free. The commentary plays on the house's app, so bring earphones; a paper guide is available. Guided visits in French or English start at €30. The cellars are about 10°C; the house says its visits are accessible to people with reduced mobility; bus C stops at "Pommery".

   BACKUP: Taittinger's Instant Rosé visit, 312 m away.

   Log Memory
5. 5

   Taste Where the Hill's First House Settled

   Optional

   wine Price: high

   Ruinart's crayères visit, nearly 40 metres down, ends with two cuvées.

   Ruinart was the first champagne house to settle on Saint-Nicaise Hill, in 1768; Veuve Clicquot, Pommery, Charles Heidsieck, Taittinger and Martel followed. The house, founded in 1729, says the idea came from Nicolas Ruinart's uncle, Dom Thierry Ruinart, a Benedictine monk.

   WHERE: Maison Ruinart, 4 rue des Crayères, Reims.

   WHAT: Take the crayères visit: about twenty chalk pits on 2 levels of an 8 km network, down to nearly 40 metres, then a commented tasting of two cuvées; under-18s are offered other drinks.

   HOW: €90 for adults, €50 for ages 7–17, free under 7; 2 hours, 12 places, in French or English. Book at visitesruinart@ruinart.com or +33 3 26 77 51 52. The house is open daily from 21 January to 27 December, except 24–25 December, 9:30–20:00. On weekdays the inner car park is closed for works: arrive 15 minutes early and park outside.

   BACKUP: If the visit is full, the house's bar pours its champagnes by the glass without booking (closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 2 November), or book Taittinger's Instant Comtes de Champagne (€90), 611 m away.

   Log Memory

Insider Tips

• Bring a warm layer: Taittinger's cellars sit at about 12°C and Pommery's at about 10°C.

• Pommery's self-guided commentary plays on the house's phone app, so bring earphones; a paper guide is available too.

• Dom Thierry Ruinart, the uncle Ruinart credits with its founding idea, was buried in 1709 at Hautvillers abbey, whose church of Saint-Sindulphe also holds Dom Pérignon's tomb; entry is free.

• On Sunday mornings the cathedral admits visitors only to its narthex until noon, and the basilica has masses at 8:45 and 10:30, so see the two churches on another morning.