Avenue de Champagne
The Avenue de Champagne is the most famous street in Epernay. It is where most of the Champagne houses are located, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage site (source: Epernay - Top 5 things to do.md). It is also called "the richest avenue in the world," thanks to roughly 200 million bottles aging in the chalk cellars beneath it (source: Champagne Houses in Epernay Elegant Heritage with a Down-to-Earth Welcome.md). Visitors can stroll past notable architecture and find many places offering Champagne Tasting (Dégustation) along the way (source: Epernay - Top 5 things to do.md).
Architecture as branding
Champagne merchants deliberately built showpiece residences and head offices along the avenue so travellers would see prestige before tasting — a "one-kilometre runway of architecture," each maison leaning into a different look (Neo-Classical, Art Deco, modernist, whimsical towers) (source: Champagne Houses in Epernay Elegant Heritage with a Down-to-Earth Welcome.md). A striking example is the Hôtel Auban-Moët (Épernay Town Hall) at the bottom of the avenue, commissioned in 1858 by Victor Moët and later given to the city (source).
Anniversaries
The street was officially renamed Avenue de Champagne in 1925, and the Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars (which includes the avenue and Fort Chabrol) received UNESCO inscription in 2015. In 2025 the avenue marked the centenary of the renaming and the 10-year anniversary of the UNESCO listing (source: Champagne Houses in Epernay Elegant Heritage with a Down-to-Earth Welcome.md).
Landmarks & houses
- The Hôtel de Ville gardens (source: Epernay - Top 5 things to do.md)
- Moët & Chandon (founded 1746) and Perrier-Jouët (founded 1813) (source: Champagne Houses in Epernay Elegant Heritage with a Down-to-Earth Welcome.md)
- Boizel and Maison de Venoge (source: Champagne Houses in Epernay Elegant Heritage with a Down-to-Earth Welcome.md)
- Château Perrier, home of the Museum of Champagne Wine and Regional Archaeology (source: Epernay - Top 5 things to do.md)
Related pages
