Abbeville Belfry

Abbeville, France

The belfry of Abbeville is one of the oldest in France, built in 1209. On 20 May 1940, during a bombing, its roof was damaged and it was only in 1986 that it was rebuilt. The belfry is one of the fifty-six belfries of Belgium and France registered in 2005 by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO in recognition of its testimony to the rise of municipal power in the region and its architecture. It has housed the museum of the city since 1954.

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 1209
Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in France
Historical period: Late Capetians (France)

Rating

4.1/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Jérémy THIRY-CESAIRE .•. (2 years ago)
Original
Daniel Gering (2 years ago)
Nice building from the outside. Too bad it's closed to visitors
Peter Van Renterghem (3 years ago)
The Belfry of Abbeville, built in the 13th century, is one of the oldest in France and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005. A symbol of the municipal liberties of Abbeville , it testifies to the municipal power obtained with the Charter received in 1187 from the Count of Ponthieu. This Charter, still preserved, is the foundation of the birth of the city of Abbeville. The belfry also houses part of the Boucher-de-Perthes museum, named after a great Abbeville prehistorian and collector of the 19th century. In front of the belfry is the statue of Admiral Courbet. Born in Abbeville in 1827, Amédée Courbet was from Abbeville to the China Sea, an unmissable figure in French maritime history at the end of the 19th century.
Martine Allain (3 years ago)
Very nice from the outside! Too bad there are only a few interior visits, by reservation...
Lexi Donne (3 years ago)
Currently closed to individuals.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

St. Martin Rotunda

The Chapel of St. Martin is the only completely preserved Romanesque building in Vyšehrad and one of the oldest in Prague. In was built around 1100 in the eastern part of the fortified outer ward. Between 1100 and 1300, the Rotrunda was surrounded by a cemetery. The building survived the Hussite Wars and was used as the municipal prison of the Town of the Vyšehrad Hill.

During the Thirty Years’ War, it was used as gunpowder storage, from 1700 to 1750, it was renovated and reconsecrated. In 1784, the chapel was closed passed to the military management which kept using it as a warehouseand a cannon-amunition manufacturing facility. In 1841, it was meant to be demolished to give way to the construction of a new road through Vyšehrad. Eventually, only the original western entrance was walled up and replaced with a new one in the sountren side. The dilapidating Rotunda subsequently served as a shelter for the poor.