Tourist attractions Chaumont

An annex of the Museum of Art and History is dedicated to cribs. There is a fine collection dating from the 17C to the present day. There are wooden, spun glass and baked clay cribs and an attractive series of 18C Neapolitan cribs.

On the south side, St John's door is an example of the expressive workmanship of the Gothic art. The transept and the chevet in the late Gothic and Renaissance style are from the 16 C. The chancel stalls and the transept, decorated during the Renais..

This magnificent work of art with 50 arches on three levels, 600 metres long and standing 52 metres over the Suize Valley, is now used by the railway from Paris to Basel. It was inaugurated in 1856.

Built around the year 1000, the church remains an invaluable example of Romanesque architecture despite the remodelling it has undergone. Inside the church, the principal structure has been preserved: the nine-bay nave separated from the outer aisles..

These two residences are accessed via a magnificent doorway. The Hôtel de Grand, Louis XIII in style, is crowned by a semicircular pediment, while the Hôtel de Beyne, Louis XIV in style, is topped with a broken pediment decorated with a grotesque mas..

This occupies an 18 C town house. It was built by the architect Francois-Nicolas Lancret Nephew of the painter, Francois Lancret, (1619 - 1743) successor of Watteau and specialist in Elegant Parties

This hexagonal tower which used to be an Arsenal (hence its name) was built in the 13 C. the Rue de la Tour-Chartron which leads there is built on the remains of the ramparts of the town.

The sculptor, Edme Bouchardon, (1698-1762), renowned for his elegance, creator of many works for the chateau at Versailles was born at no. 27. At no. 6 note a Louis XVI town house and further on a lookout tower topped with a dome of stone shells.

This is the Chapel of the old Jesuit College. Behind the main altar in sculpted and gilded wood, there is a retable by Bouchardon representing the Assumption of the Virgin.

The highest turret in Chaumont is found at no. 22 in this street. Attractive dormer windows from the 17 C decorated with caryatids, while others from the 18 C are decorated with scrolls.

Archaeological collections with a bronze breastplate dating from the 8 C BC, 16 and 19 C paintings, sculptures among which are the recumbent figure of Jean the Blind of Chateauvillain, and fragments from the mausoleum of Antoinette of Bourbon and of ..

Old houses with corbelled turrets flank this street. You will notice the same in the Rue Gouthiere. Rue Gayard also contains an attractive Renaissance town house.

This is the last remains of the Chateau of the Counts of Champagne. Its massive square keep (its walls are almost three metres thick at the base!) built in the 12 C contains temporary exhibitions today.

Philippe Lebon (1767 - 1804) was the inventor of gas lighting and therefore it's understandable that the people of Chaumont should recognise this by erecting a statue in the centre of the square that bears his name. From here you will have an attract..

In an old farming Co-operative, this cultural centre is devoted to the art of posters; it has more than 10,000 coming from a legacy; works by Jules Chéret (1836 - 1932), Théophile- Alexandre Steinlein (1859 - 1923) and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (..

Beyond the Suivre, this makes up the old industrial suburb. The Trefousse house, glove-making specialists, was the source of fame of Chaumont up to the start of the 20 C.

Orges is home to one of last remaining centres specialised in the production of pieces for floral creations; the flowers, made out of paper, silk, sugar, candy, etc.) are used for fashion, sweet-making, pastries, interior decoration and wedding acces..