0 / 44 pts
Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)
Once upon a time in Troyes, when valiant knights had to earn their ladies by heroic deeds, a manuscript was written to narrate a legendary epic.
Although unfinished, it has survived over the centuries and has become a great source of inspiration for many adaptations in literature, film, painting, music, comics and games.
Go on a quest for the “Unfinished manuscript” by solving riddles scattered throughout the streets of the historic heart of Troyes!
Once upon a time in Troyes, when valiant knights had to earn their ladies by heroic deeds, a manuscript was written to narrate a legendary epic.
Although unfinished, it has survived over the centuries and has become a great source of inspiration for many adaptations in literature, film, painting, music, comics and games.
Go on a quest for the “Unfinished manuscript” by solving riddles scattered throughout the streets of the historic heart of Troyes, known as the “Champagne Cork”.
Starting from Troyes La Champagne Tourisme, this quest will take you to 22 locations in the city.
To find the place you need to go to, you’ll have to answer a riddle. Once there, you will be asked a riddle to find a word.
The 22 words you find will be entered into a crossword puzzle, which you will discover at the end of your quest, and which will help you find the Unfinished Manuscript.
Feel free to use the internet to help you …
If you don’t manage to solve a riddle, don’t panic! You can pass. The right answer will be given to you, but you won’t score any points for the question.
The aim of the game is to find the Unfinished Manuscript with the highest number of points as you can.
READY?
GO!
Step 01 / 22
DId you know ?
The Gallic capital of the “Tricasses” (those with three plaits), named Augustobona Tricassium by the Romans, was built in a meander of the Seine, a highly strategic location on Agrippa’s road linking north and south.
Definitively named Troyes in the 13th century, the city organised major trade fairs there, the Champagne fairs, which became the largest in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Did you know ?
It was in the church of St Jean au Marché on 2 June 1420 that the marriage between Henry V, King of England, and the daughter of the King of France was celebrated, a key event in the Treaty of Troyes, which was supposed to put an end to the dynastic conflict between the French and English that began in 1337.
Step 04 / 22
L'Hôtel des Angoiselles
The Gandelus, a family of Lombard merchants who had settled in Troyes in 1256, had this astonishing hotel (also known as the Hôtel des Gandelus) built in 1550.
The Lombards, northern Italians, were renowned throughout Europe as money changers and bankers. The adjacent street, known as “de la Montée-des-Changes”, led to the Place du Marché-au-Pain, which at the time of the Champagne fairs was the place where they set up their benches, thus giving rise to the word “banquier”…
The ground floor is built in the “damier champenois” pattern, a clever and aesthetic mix of brick and limestone that allows the walls to retain heat through the brick and absorb moisture through the limestone.
Did you know ?
En 1667, pour limiter les risques d’incendie comme celui qui ravageât Londres en 1666, une ordonnance royale imposa à ce que toutes façades à pans de bois soient recouvertes de plâtre à la chaux. En un sens cette vilaine croûte a permis de protéger les façades dans l’attente de leur réhabilitation.
Step 06 / 22
Did you know ?
Mentoring network was invented in Troyes! The first description of mentoring practices for workers was found in a royal decree of 1419 setting the statutes of the shoemakers of Troyes. This text refers to the itinerancy of the companions, later called the “Tour de France”.
More about the “Maison de l’Outil et de la Pensée Ouvrière”
Did you know ?
On 22 February 1814, the Hôtel de Chapelaines welcomed 3 of the most powerful monarchs in Europe!
During the coalition invasion against Napoleon in 1814, the Austrian Emperor Francis I stayed in Troyes at the Hôtel de Chapelaines, where he held a conference with the Prussian King Frederick William III and the Russian Tsar Alexander I.
It was in this Renaissance-style mansion that the three monarchs decided to stop doing business with Napoleon. After his defeats in the French Campaign, the emperor abdicated on 4 April 1814 and was sent into exile on the island of Elba.
Did you know ?
This private mansion with its green door is often referred to as the Port Captain’s House…
Did you know that Troyes has had ports?
From the Middle Ages until the 17th century, the river port of Croncels was located where the Lycée Beurnonville is today. Another port was located at Porte St Jacques (now Rue Kléber).
In the 19th century, the timber port was located on the canal that runs along what is now Bd Jules Guesdes.
Did you know ?
The gargoyle has the function of a gutter, unlike the chimera, which is merely a decoration.
They represent fantastic, mythical or grotesque figures that are supposed to ward off evil.
It was in Troyes, in the Saint-Urban Basilica, at the end of the 13th century, that gargoyles represented a human figure for the first time!
Did you know ?
In 1536, Denis Bolori, a watchmaker of Italian origin, perhaps inspired by his compatriot Leonardo da Vinci, built a flying machine with articulated wings that he used to launch himself from the top of the tower of Troyes Cathedral.
After flying for more than a kilometre, the unfortunate man crashed in a field near Saint-Parres-aux-Tertres. The fall proved fatal…
Did you know ?
The Place du Préau was created on the site of the palace of the Counts of Champagne, built around 1157 and destroyed in 1806.
To the south of the palace was the Préau aux duels, where legal battles were held in the Middle Ages. In the absence of witnesses or confessions, the two disputing parties would fight in single combat. The winner was considered to be the one appointed by God to be the rightful person for the litigants! The place has kept the name…
Congratulations! You have found the 22 words thanks to the riddles and can now position them on the crossword puzzle.
Résolvez l’énigme pour découvrir le Manuscrit inachevé !
Hurray !
The Unfinished Manuscript is “Perceval or the Grail Tale” (“Perceval ou le Conte du Graal”)
This unfinished novel is the 5th and last novel in verse by Chrestien de Troyes (1130-1180).
Written by choice in the “Romance” language (which gave rise to the word novel, “roman” in French), rather than in Latin, the adventures of King Arthur and of the Knights of the Round Table are inspired by Celtic legends that Chrestien de Troyes sublimated by describing a wonderful and poetic universe where courtly love mingles with chivalric virtues.
Chrétien de Troyes is considered to have “invented” the novel and was, therefore, the first novelist in history in the modern sense of the word!
Troyes La Champagne Tourisme hopes to see you soon on its online games platform to discover the secrets of the region’s communes.
