Porte de Mars

I woke up early to catch a train out of Reims, but I didn’t really pay attention to the train schedules so that left me with a bit of free time before the train would depart. I was hoping to get some breakfast somewhere nearby but I found myself just walking around the park that is outside the Gare de Reims train station. I didn’t know that there was a significant monument here and I decided to go pay it a visit. The Porte de Mars is a triumphal arch that is built just outside the town center. As you can see, this is a very old structure as it was built in the third century when the Romans were in charge of this part of Europe.

The Porte de Mars is the last of the four triumphal arches which used to surround this place which used to be knowns as Durocortorum. Looking at the monuments which I have seen from the previous day, I found it difficult to imagine that there would be a monument much older than the ones which I have visited. The Porte de Mars is obviously one which is dedicated to the Roman god Mars. There is still quite a bit of detail that can be seen here so it was a joy to just go around taking photos of it.

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