Roman Ruins in Reims, France

To achieve a complexity of color and texture, artists apply paint in layers, each one subtly influencing the final effect. Just so, the Old World fascinates as we sense the sequential cultures that composed its current face. Travelers to Reims in northeastern France do not need to know that the city was born as Durocortorum, the capital of the Remi tribe, to smell antiquity hanging in the air like perfume despite the prefabricated suburbs and sparkling-wine glitz. Visits to the few preserved Roman ruins add to the experience of the city's many-layered culture.

Mythological Foundation

• Even legend works its way into the texture of a city. Mythology aligns Reims with the Roman Empire by suggesting that Reims was initially founded by Remus, the brother of Romulus who founded of the ancient city of Rome. The Celtic tribe occupying the region supposedly assumed the name of Remes after the city's founder. History establishes that the Remes tribe constructed Reims in about 80 B.C. and called it Durocortorum, meaning circular stronghold. When the Romans conquered the area, they combined the current Champagne region of France with the region encompassing modern-day Belgium; Durocortorum became the capital of the entire area.

Porte de Mars

• Mythology says Mars fathered both Romulus and Remus, so it seems appropriate that the most impressive Roman ruin standing today in Reims is the Porte de Mars, or door of Mars, built in honor of the Roman god of war. The monument stands near the central park in the city, not 15 minutes' walk from the train station. The triumphal arch, composed of three joined arches, is an extraordinary piece. It's adorned with friezes that portray ancient Roman legends, including that of Romulus killing his brother Remus after the latter foolishly criticized the wall Romulus built around Rome. The grand and imposing monument is largely ignored by the modern city, and no nearby marker sets out its name or history.

Cryptoporticus

• Since Reims was flattened during World War I, it's remarkable that an ancient Roman passageway escaped harm. Le Cryptoportique -- the Cryptoporticus -- is an arched passageway set partially below ground. The roof of the passageway was a walkway for the residents of Durocortorum. Three such passageways surrounded the town center during Gallic-Roman times. Le Cryptoportique is located in central Reims at the Place du Forum. The city does little to protect this monument, but it remains well preserved and you can stroll through free of charge.

Taittinger Cellars

• Most visitors come to Reims for its champagne, and Taittinger is a big name in that trade. The champagne cellars of Taittinger (taittinger.com) include galleries that were cut into the chalk deposits 60 feet below the ground by the Romans. They were part of a chalk quarry used between the 4th and 13th centuries. The town is seeking UNESCO World Heritage status for the quarries. During the siege of the town in World War I, residents of Reims lived in them and even published a newspaper there.

Getting to Reims

• Reims is an easy drive or train ride from Paris. It is 89 miles east of Paris, and some 28 miles from Chalons-en-Champagne. Drivers take the A4 east from Paris. Train passengers head to Paris's Gare de l'Est for the 45-minute trip; trains leave every 90 minutes. You can also take one of five trains a day from Strasbourg, a two-hour trip.

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Tours of Roman Ruins in Italy

The Roman Empire at its farthest reaches stretched from Scotland to Egypt and from Mauritania to Babylon, so the empire's remains are scattered on three continents. But some of the best Roman ruins, including many World Heritage Sites, can still be found in modern Italy -- where it all began with the founding of Rome, traditionally dated to 753 B.C., and where the Western Empire finally collapsed under the weight of its own overstretch and the Ostrogoth invasions in 476.

The City of Rome

• The Eternal City is studded with Roman remains, peeking from behind churches and sprouting between busy roads. Walk the vast sprawl of the Forum Romanum, where ruins of ancient temples, basilicas and public buildings vie for attention and understanding. Perhaps no other place epitomizes the endless layering of Roman history better than the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, where the baroque facade of the San Lorenzo in Miranda church appears to grow organically from the portico of the 2nd century Roman building. Nearby, the Colosseum stands as an embodiment of Roman pop culture, its brutal concrete arches a witness to the raw realities of carnage-as-entertainment. If you have time for more, tour the jumble of ruins on the Palatine Hill, other Imperial forums, numerous arches, as well as the Baths of Caracalla and the nearby Via Appia.

Ostia Antica

• Less than an hour from Rome by Metro and train, the ruins of Rome's ancient harbor of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber were partially preserved in the river mud when the water silted up after the fall of Rome. The site gives a fascinating insight into the life of the ancient working port. Baths, temples, warehouses and dwellings still stand among the cypresses and pines -- some roofless and in ruins, others almost complete, with arches, mosaics and wall paintings. Don't miss the House of Diane, a well preserved example of an insula, a multistory tenement building of the type inhabited by most urban Romans.

Pompeii and Herculaneum

• The disastrous Vesuvius eruption of 79 A.D. buried the thriving cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under volcanic ash and lava. The ruins -- excavated since the 18th century -- present a unique snapshot of life as it was in the commercial city of Pompeii, where rich and poor lived side by side, and the posher resort of Herculaneum. Everyday life was caught at a particular moment of sudden interruption, from the political graffiti to everyday objects abandoned as people tried to escape from the shower of hot ash. You will need a day to properly explore the sites; Pompeii is larger and Herculaneum more intact. Both are about a half hour from Naples, whether by car or on the Circumvesuviana train line.

Villas

• Villas, either country mansions at the heart of large estates, or hedonistic retreats from the cities, are scattered through the Roman countryside. Visit Hadrian's villa at Tivoli near Rome, an imperial residence covering more than 200 acres. Hadrian himself designed many buildings, and was influenced by Greek and Egyptian styles. Tivoli is 20 miles from Rome, or an hour's bus journey. On Sicily, Villa del Casale was both the focus of a great rural estate and a luxury residence of the owners. The mosaics there -- note the modern-looking bikini girls -- are considered the best Roman mosaics still in their original location. The site is near the village of Piazza Armerina, a two hour drive southeast from Palermo.

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