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Reims - Porte Mars & Roman Arch
On September 19, 1914, German shells hit Reims Cathedral. The bombardment lasted 1,051 days. By the end, the cathedral where every French king from Clovis to Charles X had been crowned was a roofless skeleton. Three hundred meters away, the Porte Mars — the widest Roman triumphal arch still standing anywhere, 33 meters across — survived without a scratch. When the war ended, the Champagne houses paid to rebuild the cathedral stone by stone. Moët, Pommery, Veuve Clicquot — their money put a roof back on France. The arch that Rome built outlasted everything. The cathedral that Champagne rebuilt stands beside it.
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