Saint-Riquier, rebirth of an abbey

A brief history

SINCE 625

The abbey of Saint-Riquier, founded in 625, has housed, since 2012, a 'Centre Culturel de Rencontre' devoted to writing and books. It was founded in 625 by the future Saint Riquier, over a spring that had been an ancient place of pagan worship.
It became a royal abbey in 632, placed under the protection of King Dagobert I. Charlemagne himself entrusted his son-in-law, Angilbert, with the construction of a vast new abbey, using the noblest of materials, thus establishing a model of religious architecture for ecclesiastical buildings throughout the western world.
Thanks to its library which, over the centuries, became one of the largest in Europe and to its scriptorium actively engaged in creating and disseminating the Carolingian minuscule, the abbey played an important part in the preservation and transmission of knowledge until the end of the 12th century.
A jewel of Gothic architecture, the abbey was often damaged by fires or plundering but still remains one of the finest buildings in France, thanks in large measure to works carried out in the 17th century by Charles d'Aligre.