Founded in the 7th century, the Abbey of Saint-Riquier, protected as a Historic Monument, is one of the most beautiful historical and architectural gems of the Samarian heritage.
A center of religious, cultural, and intellectual influence since the Middle Ages, the Abbey continues to embody this legacy by hosting the Cultural Center within its walls, owned by the Somme Departmental Council since 1972.

According to tradition, the abbey was founded around 625 by Saint Riquier, a layman converted to religious life in his youth by two Irish monks. Between the late 8th and late 9th centuries, that is, during the Carolingian era, it was a major religious, cultural, and intellectual center, particularly after its reconstruction at the initiative of Abbot Angilbert, a close friend of Charlemagne who came to celebrate Easter at Saint-Riquier in 800.
Attacked and burned by the Vikings in 881, the abbey then entered a period of decline that lasted about a century. The abbots of the 11th century strove to restore it to its former grandeur, but it was destroyed by a fire started in 1131 by Hugh III Candavène, Count of Saint-Pol, then at war with rival lords. In the second half of the 13th century, Abbot Gilles de Machemont undertook to rebuild the abbey church in the Gothic style, as evidenced by the current choir, which dates from this period.
Between the early 15th and mid-16th centuries, the abbey suffered several fires, each followed by phases of reconstruction. The current façade, a magnificent example of the Flamboyant Gothic style, dates from one of these fires, at the beginning of the 16th century.

Go to Abbaye

In the second half of the 17th century, under the abbacy of Charles d'Aligre, the abbey was restored and joined the Congregation of Saint-Maur, whose monks were renowned for their erudition, in 1660.
Suffered by another fire in 1719, then sold as national property during the Revolution in 1791, it nevertheless escaped total destruction as the abbey church became the parish church of Saint-Riquier. Eventually purchased by the Diocese of Amiens, the abbey was restored during the 19th century and housed a minor seminary from 1828 to 1906, and again from 1926 to 1952. It served as a military hospital during both World Wars and became the headquarters of the Congregation of the Auxiliary Brothers of the Clergy in 1953. Having become the property of the Somme Departmental Council in 1972, the abbey has hosted the Saint-Riquier Festival since 1985, to the delight of music lovers. Since 2012, it has also housed a departmental cultural center offering a rich and high-quality program.