Stained glass

15,000 sq m of ancient and contemporary stained glass.

Champagne-Ardenne is Europe's richest region in terms of ancient stained glass: nearly 2,000 windows can still be seen in 300 civil and religious buildings.

The history of painting on glass began here in the twelfth century and continues to this day. All of the various techniques are on display in the region and the extraordinary quantity of stained-glass windows is testimony to the specific know-how of the Champagne glassmakers.

From the 13th century ...

The oldest windows (13th century) preserved today are those in the choir of Saint Remi in Reims and the cathedral of Troyes. The windows dating from the heyday of the 16th century are to be found in Aube: Troyes, Ervy-le-Chatel, Les Riceys, Bar-sur-Seine, Mussy-sur-Seine.

... to the modern day

Worthy of note are the stained-glass windows made following the major conflicts of the 20th century, a period during which Champagne became a hotbed for the contemporary art of stained glass: Marc Chagall at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Vieira da Silva and Sima at Saint Jacques in Reims, Dürrbach at Notre-Dame-de-L'Espérance in Mézières, and more recently the windows in Villenauxe-la-Grande, inaugurated in 2005.

The inventory of stained glass in Champagne-Ardenne on the DRAC Champagne-Ardenne website

Where can I admire these amazing stained-glass windows?