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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Sainte-Croix de Reims Chapel is a listed historical monument located at the entrance to the city's oldest North Cemetery opened in 1787. This cemetery gradually replaced the former parish cemeteries that had now disappeared. The chapel, designed by the diocesan architect Nicolas Serrurier, is distinguished by its peristyle of four columns surmounted by a triangular pediment, as well as by its round plan with a dome. Inside, it housed a black marble altar and painted decorations imitating funeral draperies, illuminated only by a summital oculus. It served as a burial ground for local personalities, including Abbé André Nicolas Savart (died 1819) and Abbé Nicolas Malherbe (died 1820), as well as the knight of Maison-Rouge, a famous figure by Alexandre Dumas.

Strongly damaged during World War I, the chapel was completely rebuilt by architect Henri Deneux. Its classification as historic monuments, effective November 15, 1927, protects a building marked by its funeral history and neoclassical architecture. Today, enclaved between the railway and Rue du Champ-de-Mars, it bears witness to the urban evolution of Reims and its religious and memorial heritage.

The North Cemetery, inaugurated on 8 July 1787, houses the remains of many citizens who marked the history of the city. The Sainte-Croix chapel, with its sober and symbolic architecture, embodies both a place of recollection and an example of the religious architectural heritage of the late eighteenth century in Champagne-Ardenne (now Grand Est).

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