PICARDY
Vacations and Sightseeing

Basic information
Official language	French
Capital	Amiens
Area	19.399 km2
Population	1,953,553  (2019)
Currency	euro  (EUR)
Web	.fr
Code.	FRA
Tel.	+33

Popular destinations FRANCE

Alsace	Ardeche	Auvergne
Brittany	Burgundy	Cevennes
Corsica	Cote d'azur	Dordogne
Jura	Languedoc-roussillon	Loire valley
Lot	Normandy	Picardy
	Provence

Vacations and Sightseeing

Amiens is the capital of Picardy and definitely worth a visit. Amiens Cathedral, protected as a World Heritage Site, is the highest of the great Gothic churches of the 13th century and is the largest cathedral in France. The original cathedral was destroyed by fire, construction of the new church began in 1220 and was completed in 1247. Amiens Cathedral is world famous for its beauty and in particular for the beautiful display of statues on the main facade. The cathedral has been described as the "Parthenon of Gothic architecture".

There are also a number of interesting museums in the city such as the Museum of the Hôtel Berny (Art, History), the Museum of Picardy (Art, Archaeology, Ethnology) and the Natural History Museum.

Amiens also has a number of theatres: La Comedie de Picardie, La Maison de la Culture, Chez Cabotans and La Maison du Theâtre. Read more on the Amiens page.

Picardy is home to many "war tourists". There are many battlefields in the Picardiy region and many monuments and war memorials of things like the Battle of the Somme and the armistice memorial in Compiegne, including a copy of an original train carriage.

An attraction of a completely different order is Parc Asterix, with its many attractions for all ages. Many attractions are designed after the famous Asterix comics by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. The amusement park has much to offer young children, there is even a dolphin theatre. The park also has a wide variety of attractions for adults: The Tonnerre de Zeus is the largest wooden roller coaster in Europe. The park is open from 8 April to 15 October.

In Picardy, a number of old steam and other trains run, the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme between Noyelles and Cayeux, the P'tit Train de la Haute Somme between Froissy and Dompierre and the Chemin de Fer Touristique de Vermandois from Saint-Quentin.

P'tit train de la Haute Somme, Picardy_{Photo: Manfred Kopka CC 4.0 International no changes made}

Naours is known for its underground shelters carved into a limestone plateau. The underground city once accommodated about 3,000 people and had streets, squares, chapels and a bakery. These caves are called 'creuttes', 'boves' or 'muches' in Picardy. The muches of Naours date back to Viking times in the 9th century, and were also used during various religious wars, in the Thirty Years' War and by smugglers. At some point, the caves were no longer used and were only rediscovered in 1887.

Naours caves, Picardy_{Photo: Raphodon CC 3.0 Unported no changes made}

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Sources

BBC - Country Profiles

CIA - World Factbook

Heetvelt, Angela / Picardië : Nord-Pas-de-Calais
ANWB

Picardie : Somme-Oise-Aisne
Lannoo

Wikipedia

Last updated April 2024
Copyright: Team The World of Info