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Reims city, also spelled Rheims, lies in the Marne département, Champagne-Ardenne region, in north-eastern France, east-northeast of Paris. On the Vesle River (a tributary of the Aisne) and the Marne-Aisne canal. It is overlooked from the southwest by the Montagne de Reims.

The Birth of a nation event founded France, inaugurating in a unique ceremony the fusion of man and God in the Cathedral. In the year 496 Clovis, Bishop Saint Remi christened the King of the Franks. Since then, no king could be crowned except in Reims, so it became City of Royal coronations.

The cathedral, which was begun in 1211 under the auspices of Archbishop Aubry de Humbert and designer Jean d'Orbais, was modelled on Chartres Cathedral (begun about 1194) and was intended to replace an earlier church destroyed by fire in 1210. The main construction was overseen by four different architects and lasted some 80 years; expansions and decorative work continued on the church for centuries.

There is a university that was founded by Pope Paul III in 1547. Jean Baptiste Colbert and St. John Baptist de la Salle were born in Reims.

During World War I heavy bombing nearly levelled the city, destroyed the interior, including most of the irreplaceable stained-glass windows. Restored, partly with funds from the Rockefeller Foundation, it was reopened in 1938. The town hall (17^th cent.) and the old Church of St. Remi (11^th–16^th cent.) were also gravely damaged. In World War II, on May 7, 1945, German emissaries signed the unconditional surrender of Germany at Allied headquarters in Reims. Peace, reborn here, at last turned Europe towards hope witnessed by the Franco-German reconciliation on 8^th July 1962.

Reims has a good road network, and its river port is one of the most important in France. Together with Épernay, it forms the industrial centre of the champagne wine district. The wine is stored in large cellars tunnelled in the chalk that underlies the district. The nature of the soft stone, however, has led to collapse of some surface structures into the caves, endangering the town's architectural heritage. Other industries include the manufacture of aircraft and automobile equipment, food processing, and clothing manufacturing.