Amiens Things to Do

Juls Verne had married a woman from Amiens in 1857 and moved to the town in 1871, where he also died in March 1905. The house where they lived was known as "the house with the tower" because of the eye-cathing tower which can still be seen.

I wasn't tempted by the high entrance fee, so I just left without going in, therefore no pictures and not much information, alas.

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A Romanesque cathedral built in this area was destroyed by fire in 1218. That gave the opportunity to the then bishop, Evrard de Fouilloy, to launch his big scale building plans. But before they could get started some other buildings, like the Church of Saint Firmin the Confessor, had to be removed to give space for the cathedral. The building works then started in 1225. Just 44 years later, in 1269, the stained-glass windows were installed in the centre of the apse, indicating the completion date of the main building works.

The dimensions of the cathedral are impressing: it is 145 m long, the transept is 70 m wide, the nave is 40 m wide and the height of the vaults is 42,3 m.

The cathedral is open to visitors all year round, April through September from 08.30 till 18.30 and October through March from 08.30 till 17.30.
The entrance is free of charge.

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Along the canal will you find the oldest houses in Amiens, in the area callend Saint-Leu. They are called "maisons à pignon" in French, gabled houses in English. In the 17th century, the ground floor housed merchant's stands or workshops.

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In 1406 was one of the first belfries in France built by wood. It was destroyed several times by fire, so in 1742 the edifice which we now can see was built. A belfry was the symbol of a free city.
It is open to visitors Sundays at 10.30 in the morning.

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This s is one of largest private collections of stained-glass windows in France. It is located in an old house dating from the 16th century. The collection contains as well religious as civil windows from the 12th to the 20th centuries.
Every afternoon at 15.00 (except Sundays and bank holidays) there is the possibility to join a guided tour through the gallery. You will get informed about the theory and history before you can look at the creation of new windows. The tour is ONLY in French. On the internet site there says that there is an unaccompanied tour at 15.00 but that is wrong, you can come in only for this tour and it is accompanied.
The tour will last from 30 min to an hour, the admission for adults being 5 Euros, children 3 Euros.
Here's a link to a map.

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In the nave we can admire two bronze tombstones, each one created in one block in the 13th century. There are Evrard de Fouilloy (the bishop who launched the building project of the Cathedral) and his successor Geoffroy d'Eu, buried.

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Saint Firmin was the first bishop of Amiens in the 3rd century. (Amiens was at that time a Roman town called Samarobriva.) The reliefs tells about his life and doings, until he got caught by the roman soldiers and was beheaded.
The reliefs were sculptured between 1490 and 1530.

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At the back of the choir, just opposite the stained-glass windows from 1269, there is a little but famous angel, sitting and weeping. He sits on the mausoleum of the canon Gulian Lucas. The legend has it that the dead canon's family had ordered the famous sculptor Nicolas Blasset to erect a marble mausoleum. So he did, but afterwards, when the family got the invoice, they were not at all satisfied. They thought it to be much too expensive, so they sued Blasset. To avoid paying the fines, he added this little angel as a "bonus" for free.