MERIAN, C. - Abeville. Amiens.

Two views printed on two separate plates of Abbeville and Amiens with its Cathedral in Picardy, France.
Abbatis Villa" (rural domaine of the abbey) is quoted for the first time in the year 831 as being the estate of the grand Carolingian abbey of Saint-Riquier. This "Villa" did not figure in the history books until the time of Hugues Capet, when towards the year 991 it had become a small village surrounded by high walls and ditches, it was protected by a castle built nearby by Hugues of Abbeville in the place designated for the Saint Pierre priory. It was a solicitor from Saint Riquier Hugues of Abbeville, son-in-law of Hugues Capet who started the Counts of Ponthieu dynasty. In the year 1184, Count Jean de Ponthieu was solemnly confirmed in great ceremony by a charter from the Abbeville community. The 12th century marked the start of a period of economic prosperity thanks to the maritime trade. The Somme allowed the movement as far as Abbeville of large boats from Spain, England and Northern European countries. This prosperity lasted until the end of the 15th century (time of the construction of the Collegaite Church Saint Vulfran).
The Amiens Cathedral (a World Heritage Site) is the tallest of the large 'classic' Gothic churches of the 13th century and is the largest in France of its kind, and is notable for the coherence of its plan, the beauty of its three-tier interior elevation. It is described as the "Parthenon of Gothic architecture," and by John Ruskin as "Gothic, clear of Roman tradition and of Arabian taint, Gothic pure, authoritative, unsurpassable, and unaccusable."
Amiens is also known for the hortillonnages, gardens on small islands in the marshland along the Somme River, surrounded by a grid network of man-made canals.Both prints are very well engraved with excellent detail.
From Merian's Topographia Galliae. . . .