Porte de Mars

The Porte de Mars is a Roman triumphal arch that has stood at what was once the northern entrance to the ancient city of Durocortorum — the Roman name for Reims — since the 3rd century AD. At 33 metres wide, it is the largest known Roman arch anywhere in the world, a fact that surprises most visitors who come to Reims primarily for its Gothic cathedral.

The arch is decorated with relief sculptures on its inner walls: fragments show agricultural scenes and mythological subjects. It stands near the city's covered market and is freely accessible at all times. After the Cathedral and the champagne cellars, the Porte de Mars makes a convincing case that Reims has been an important city for well over two thousand years.

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The Porte de Mars is the widest surviving Roman triumphal arch in the world — wider even than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It dates from the 3rd century AD and is decorated with reliefs including a calendar of agricultural activities and a scene believed to depict Jupiter and Leda. For centuries it was walled into the city ramparts and was only fully exposed in the late 18th century.