"Amiens, wealthy from dyening with indigo." Top 5 Page for this destination Amiens by Askla

Amiens is nowadays perhaps most well known for the sound- and light show at the Cathedral, showing the statues from the Middle Age in their original colours. But there is also the Jules Verne's House where he lived from 1871 until he died in 1905. He married a woman from Amiens in 1857.

The city's crest.

Amiens is an old city, it was known as the roman Samarobriva (bridge over Somme) as early as in the 1st century BOT. (It's said that Julius Ceasar spent the winter 54 BOT here.) It later changed its name to Ambianorum and from there the name Amiens has developed.

In the 13th century, the city became wealthy as a result of the textile dyening industry using woad, which was grown in the area. It gives the dye chemical indigo, a wonderful blue colour. Blue was very popular on clothes those days. (There is an interesting article about dyening plants at Wikipedia.)

During the ages, Amiens was conquered and/or given to rulers several times, the last time being in 1597 when it was taken over by Henry IV. From then on it has been belonging to France.
Amiens is nowadays home to ~135.000 people.

One of the largest collections of stained-glass windows in the whole of France is exhibited here, not far from the Cathedral.

• Pros:The laser-lit statues at the Cathedral are a must see.
• In a nutshell:A historical place, easy to reach.