A trove of architectural treasures in Champagne

There is no noticeably hilly landscape in Champagne due to the chalk content of its subsoil that forms a 50-mile arc.

It all began around 90 million years ago. A huge volume of sedimentary deposit formed on the sea bed, covering what is now called the Paris Basin. This created the Champagne bedrock that in parts is up to 200 metres thick. When the sea drew back, the chalk was opened to erosion. During the glacial periods, the white limestone was split by the ice. Consequently, the slightest relief was erased and the visual aspect is now only mildly undulating.

The Plaine Chalonnaise

The architecture of this area is distinctive for its chalk walls.

A number of public buildings in Châlons-en-Champagne are built in this fashion as are the neighbouring rural habitations. The place is also peppered across the vast cereal plain with a few major monuments. One example is the resplendent basilica of Notre Dame de l'Epine.

The northern part of this region offers little in the way of remarkable architecture as the majority of the villages were destroyed between 1914 and 1918.

Major features: a fragile material, chalk rubble is laid on beds of dressed stone. The local architecture has borrowed certain features from nearby places, for example timber frames filled with mudbricks or mixed constructions combining timber, clay bricks and chalk-block gables.

A little farther west, the forest region of Le Tardenois provides some green landscape amongst a high concentration of Romanesque churches. The architecture in this part of the country stands out for the use of locally-quarried soft limestone.
Major features: skylights blend in with the façades or are built in to the eaves. Steeply-pitched roofs (45 to 60°) are covered with flat or slate tiles. The walls are bonded using gold limestone, cut for the door and window frames. The walls are made from chalk rubble, sometimes coated, sometimes not.

Brie and Sézanne

Typical of the rest of the region, the architectural heritage of these parts is dominated by the rural style. Only the historic town centres displays a few urban features. .

The exclusive concentration of timber-frame churches around Lake Der is one of the major architectural attractions of these parts. Major features: the buildings are most commonly timber-frame, exposed or covered. The low pitch roofs (20 to 25°) are covered in Roman tiles. The roofs have long overhangs that form porches. The square dovecots are built in to the constructions.

Argonne

In addition to timber frames, which can also be spotted in the southern part of this region, Argonne has a typical characteristic of its own: gaize, an uncommon type of chalky sandstone. Laid on Gault clay and greensand, gaize is easily affected by ravine erosion and run-offs, which has shaped the characteristic Argonne landscape.

This material, a cross between earth and stone, was a popular choice for constructions. The town hall in Sainte-Ménehould is one of the most impressive examples of its use. Gaize was sometimes used on its own, but it was most often bonded in alternate layers with chalk or brick.
Major features: the constructions are often timber framed, exposed or covered, and bonding with alternating layers of brick and gaize is common to see. Low pitch roofs (20 to 25°) are covered in Roman tiles or tegula tiles (trough-shaped flat tiles).