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

See the route on a map
Rendez-vous devant l'hôtel de ville de Troyes, place Alexandre Israël
See the route on a map

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.

gaulois

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.

 

Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

01 /22

To find the 1st word, answer this riddle.

Revolutionary, my end is unique

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Step 02 / 22

See the route on a map
Rendez-vous at l'église St Jean
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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.

Mariage de Henri V et de Catherine de Valois eglise st jean troyes

Learn more about the treaty of Troyes

Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

02 /22

To find the word number 2, answer this riddle.

Among the flying buttresses, what do these warlike gargoyles represent?

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Step 03 / 22

See the route on a map
Go to place du Marché au pain
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

03 /22

To find the word number 3, answer this riddle.

In our region, it would have been strange if it had not been carved on a house.

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Step 04 / 22

See the route on a map
Meet at the corner of la rue de la montée des changes et de la rue général Saussier
See the route on a map

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.

Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

04 /22

To find the word number 4, answer this riddle.

Between the Champagne checkerboard and the slates on the roof

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Step 05 / 22

See the route on a map
Make your way to n° 28 rue général Saussier
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

05 /22

To find the word number 5, answer this riddle.

Neither man, nor angel, nor demon, Georges and Michael will be the end of me

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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

See the route on a map
Proceed to la Maison de l'outil et de la pensée ouvrière, 7 rue de la Trinité
See the route on a map

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”

 

More about the Mopo

Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

06 /22

To find the word number 6, answer the riddle.

His donation later became a museum…

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Step 07 / 22

See the route on a map
Destination, l'Hôtel de Chapelaines, rue Turenne
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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.

NAPOLEON

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.

Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

07 /22

To find the word number 7, answer this riddle.

Above the green door is standing one of the seven virtues…

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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.

Step 08 / 22

See the route on a map
Meet at à l'église St Pantaléon
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

08 /22

To find the word number 8, answer this riddle.

Octagonal and well-built, I serve as a signal to the community.

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Step 09 / 22

See the route on a map
Go to l'église St Nicolas
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

09 /22

Pour trouver le mot 9, répondez à cette devinette.

En ce nord flamboyant, ils se développent en rinceaux dans les gorges des voussures

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Step 10 / 22

See the route on a map
Make your way to Centre Rachi, rue Brunneval
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

10 /22

To find the word number 10, answer this riddle.

I have the symbol of a star but not its shape…

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Step 11 / 22

See the route on a map
Proceed to l'église Ste Madeleine
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

11 /22

To find the word number 11, answer this riddle.

The emblem of Francois blazes on a door

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Step 12 / 22

See the route on a map
Rendez-vous at ruelle des chats
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

12 /22

To find the word number 12, answer this riddle.

Without my attributes, there is no salvation.

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Step 13 / 22

See the route on a map
Rendez-vous at l'Hôtel Juvénal des Ursins
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

13 /22

To find the word number 13, answer this riddle.

Name of the hat worn by two of the five out of thirteen

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Step 14 / 22

See the route on a map
Meet in front of la tourelle de l'orfèvre
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

14 /22

To find the word number 14, answer this riddle.

Behind your back, this divine wooden messenger is way out of his element!

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Step 15 / 22

See the route on a map
Go to la basilique St Urbain, place Vernier
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

15 /22

To find the word number 15, answer this riddle.

On Monday, I am a wolf, on Friday, I am a chimeric winged man. What am I on Sunday?

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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!

Step 16 / 22

See the route on a map
Proceed to l'église St Rémy
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

16 /22

Pour trouver le mot 16, répondez à cette devinette.

This particularity has made this church part of a European association.

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Step 17 / 22

See the route on a map
Rendez-vous at Cœur de Troyes
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

17 /22

To find the word 17, answer this riddle.

Closer to Rodin and Claudel than to Bonny & Clyde, this one gave its heart of Troyes.

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Step 18 / 22

See the route on a map
Rendez-vous at l'Hôtel Dieu-le-Comte
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

18 /22

To find the word number 18, answer this riddle.

On the Decumanus, a few steps from the gate “porte de la Girouarde”, in this niche was placed…

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Step 19 / 22

See the route on a map
Meet at la cathédrale St Pierre St Paul
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

19 /22

To find the word number 19, answer this riddle.

Of these two inseparable pillars, one is out balance.

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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.

Aile de leonard de vinci 2

After flying for more than a kilometre, the unfortunate man crashed in a field near Saint-Parres-aux-Tertres. The fall proved fatal…

En savoir plus sur la cathédrale de Troyes

Step 20 / 22

See the route on a map
Rendez-vous at l'église St Nizier
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

20 /22

To find the word number 20, answer this riddle.

On the north side, with an air of Tuscany.

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Step 21 / 22

See the route on a map
Go to place du préau
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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.

place du preau-1859

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…

Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

21 /22

To find the word number 21, answer this riddle.

Amongst this merry band, I am the last one… But what is on my head?

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Step 22 / 22

See the route on a map
Proceed to Place de la Libération
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Quest for the unfinished manuscript (quick version)

22 /22

To find the word number 22, answer this riddle.

This King guards the entrance to the House of the Republic.

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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.

Photos credits

Game over

Your score is :

0 /44 pts

Oh boy…

If you want to find out more about the city, it’s vital that you take a guided or audio-guided tour offered by Troyes La Champagne Tourisme.

So far so good…

You may not know the city very well, but all is not lost! Take a guided or audio-guided tour offered by Troyes La Champagne Tourisme and you’ll be (almost) unbeatable!

You’re pretty good!

You already know a lot about the city, but if you want to find out more (or almost), we invite you to take a guided or audio-guided tour offered by Troyes La Champagne Tourisme!

WELL DONE!

Congratulations! You know everything (or almost everything)! To perfect your knowledge, we invite you to take a guided or audio-guided tour offered by Troyes La Champagne Tourisme!

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