broke the mullions and stained glass of one of the windows of the apse (north side). This Church is in the centre of the old quarter or lower part of the city. It is there that the commerce and industry of the town have been centralised since the Middle Ages.
A maze of narrow, winding streets crossed by innumerable canals or arms of the Somme river, connected by bridges, forms this part of the town. Numerous small water-falls supply motive power to the local factories and works. Formerly, the workshops of the fullers and dyers, which crowded the banks of the canals, and where the cloth-fulling and woad-grinding were done, were driven by water-wheels (see [p. 2]).
The houses have kept their ancient aspect, and are curious for their wooden walls, sharply pointed gables, steep roofs with tiny dormer-windows, and daring corbellings overhanging the narrow streets and canals. The only means of access to the outside which some of them possess is a foot-bridge passing over the canal.
Turn to the right into the Rue St. Leu, passing in front of the Hôtel Dieu. Rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries, except the St. John ward, which was built at the beginning of the 16th century in the Gothic-Flamboyant style, it is a spacious hall with two large roofs, the gables of which face the street. The vaulting is of wood, the ends of the beams being carved. The whole is in very bad condition.
After crossing six successive lines of canals offering picturesque perspectives (especially the Rue de Ville and Rue des Coches), the tourist arrives at the Citadelle.
The Citadelle, built in the 16th century, has since been dismantled and now serves as a barracks. The Porte Monte-Ecu (historical monument), built in 1531 under François I., is within its walls. It was through this Gate that the Spaniards entered Amiens in 1597. To get a view of it, turn to the right after the Pont de la Citadelle and take the first street on the left (see detailed plan).