Of the three buildings which surrounded every Cathedral in the Middle Ages--the bishop's palace, the cloister of the canons, and the house set apart for the sick and poor (Hôtel-Dieu)--only the archbishop's palace existed at Rheims in 1914. It extended all along the south lateral façade of the Cathedral, on the site of the ancient abode of St. Nicaise, which had replaced a Roman palace. Of the ancient building erected by the successors of St. Nicaise down to the 13th century, there remained only the graceful two-storied chapel, doubtless contemporary with the chevet of the Cathedral. The round entrance tower, known as Eon's tower (from the name of the heretic who was imprisoned there in the 12th century), and the great bronze stag placed in the middle of the courtyard by Archbishop Samson in the 11th century, still existed in the 17th century, but about that time the one was demolished and the other melted down. This stag, into which on feast-days wine was poured, which flowed out again by the mouth, was a beautiful specimen of the art of the old metal-founders of Rheims. The archbishop's palace and most of its rich collections were burnt in the fire of September 19, 1914. Of the palace proper there remains only the great chimney-piece of the Salle du Tau, on which the Latin motto, "Good faith preserved makes rich," is inscribed (_see p. 64_), the very opposite of the German "scrap of paper" theory. =The Archevêché=: The buildings which lined the courtyard were of different periods. The wing abutting on the entrance-gate was 19th century, while the correct but heavy and dull southern façade was rebuilt in the 17th century by Archbishop Maurice Le Tellier, from the plans of Robert de Cotte. [Illustration: THE SALLE DU TAU, BEFORE THE WAR] =The Salle du Tau (or Kings' Hall)= (_See plan, p. 33._) At the bottom of the courtyard there used to be a large late 15th and early 16th century hall, access to which was gained by a horse-shoe stair with late 17th century wrought-iron hand-rail. A small porch-like structure at the top of the stair was an unfortunate addition of 1825. The hall was known as the =Salle du Tau=, in memory of the ancient palace which was shaped like the Greek letter _Tau_, or the Kings' Hall, on account of the portraits of the Kings consecrated at Rheims, received in 1825. Built by the Cardinal Archbishop Guillaume Briçonnet between 1497 and 1507, it comprised two stories. [Illustration: THE SALLE DU TAU IN 1918 _Behind the ruined Hall are seen the Southern Transept and Chevet of the Cathedral._] The upper hall, in which the royal banquet was served at the consecrations, became the Stock Exchange at the beginning of the 19th century. It was disfigured by poor paintings and false Gothic ornamentation at the time of the consecration of Charles X. The walls were hung with four admirable tapestries by Pepersack and several others given by Robert de Lenoncourt.