Amiens, Somme Département, Hauts-de-France, France

🇫🇷 Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, 120 km north of Paris and 100 km south-west of Lille. It is the prefecture of the Somme department in Hauts-de-France. The city has one of the biggest university hospitals in France with a capacity of 1,200 beds. Amiens Cathedral is the largest church in France in terms of volume, estimated to be 200,000 cubic metres. It has been a World Heritage Site since 1981. The author Jules Verne lived in Amiens from 1871 until his death in 1905, and served on the city council for 15 years.

The town was fought over during both World Wars, suffering significant damage, and was repeatedly occupied by both sides. The 1918 Battle of Amiens was the opening phase of the Hundred Days Offensive which directly led to the Armistice with Germany. The Royal Air Force heavily bombed the town during the Second World War. In the aftermath, the city was rebuilt according to Pierre Dufau's plans with wider streets to ease traffic congestion. These newer structures were primarily built of brick, concrete and white stone with slate roofs. The architect Auguste Perret designed the Gare d'Amiens train station and nearby Tour Perret.

Amiens has an important historical and cultural heritage, on which a significant amount of tourism is based. Apart from the cathedral, there is the hortillonnages, the Jules Verne House, the Tour Perret, the Musée de Picardie, the zoo, and the quarters of Saint-Leu and Saint-Maurice. A total of 60 monuments are listed in the inventory of monuments historiques, over 1600 places and monuments listed in the general inventory of cultural heritage, and 187 objects listed in the inventory of monuments historiques. During December, the town hosts the largest Christmas market in northern France. It is known for a few local foods, including "macarons d'Amiens", almond paste biscuits; "tuiles amienoises", chocolate and orange curved biscuits; "pâté de canard d'Amiens", duck pâté in pastry; "la ficelle Picarde", an oven-baked cheese-topped crêpe; and "flamiche aux poireaux", a puff pastry tart made with leeks and cream.

Economy As both an industrial hub and a services centre, Amiens enjoys a large pool of workers with a labor pool of over 350,000 inhabitants and numerous professional training courses.

The magazine L'Entreprise elected Amiens "Most attractive city of France" for businesses, in 2009 and 2007, for the category less than 200,000 inhabitants. The city finished second in 2010, 2008 and 2006. The strengths of the city include a developed real estate business and taxation around the average for French cities. In addition, its geographical position in the centre of the triangle "Paris – London – Brussels", is between three major European cities.

The magazine Challenges has also designated Amiens as "Best managed city of France", for the category large cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, in 2011, 2010 and 2008.

Businesses and shops On 31 December 2015, at Amiens, there were 10,436 businesses: 51 in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, 394 in industry, 685 in construction, 7,110 in trade, transportation and various services and 2,196 were related to the administrative sector.

In 2018, 1,505 companies had been recorded as being established in Amiens, including 1,206 companies owned by sole proprietors.

Philatelic publishers Yvert et Tellier (catalogues of quotes) and l'Écho de la timbrologie (magazine) have their management in Amiens, even if they have more of their services in the Paris region. The Gueudet Group, one of the largest car dealers in France, was established at Amiens in 1918. The old textile tradition of the city remains with the factory of Lee Cooper France (122 employees).

Since the end of World War II, much of the city's economy was tied to automotive equipment with companies such as Valeo, Goodyear and Sumitomo-Dunlop tires. In 2003, the American Goodyear company bought Dunlop. These two companies suffered financially through late 2007 and early 2008, and in response, the American Goodyear company headquarters in the United States offered workers a change to their working hours and the number of posts, which a high percentage of staff refused.

Procter & Gamble, settled in Amiens in 1964 to produce soap, and inaugurated its new detergents unit in 1966. Established on over more than 45 hectares (110 acres), it is one of the largest factories in the world for laundry cleaning products (Ariel, Dash, Bonux, Gama) and for domestic cleaning products (Mr. Clean, Febreze). More than 85% of its production is intended for export.

The Amiens plant employs approximately 930 people.

Since the mid 1990s, the city has tried to convert the economy towards the internet and telephony industries. Many call centres (Intracall centre, Coriolis France, Médiamétrie) have opened mainly within the city, region or state. The Unilog (now Logica) computer service company has installed a service centre in Amiens (the CSA).

Amiens is the seat of the Regional Chamber of commerce and industry of Picardy. It is also the seat of the Chamber of commerce and industry of Amiens. It manages the Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome.

Culture, tourism and heritage The strategic position of Amiens makes it an attractive destination for a weekend or a few days, from Paris, Lille or Brussels. Amiens also benefits from the proximity of the Baie de Somme, a tourist hotspot registered at the Club des plus belles baies du monde and labelled Great Site of France.

Amiens has the label of Towns and Lands of Art and History since 1992. Within this framework, the host of the heritage organises guided tours on themes intended for an audience of adults and children, with educational workshops. A sign-posted circuit allows an independent tour of the town, with information panels offering comment on places and notable buildings.

Amiens has an important historical and cultural heritage, and an accessible and varied natural heritage, on which tourism is based. The main attractions are the cathedral, which is included in the world heritage of UNESCO, the hortillonnages, Jules Verne House, the Tour Perret, the Musée de Picardie, the zoo, and the quarters of Saint-Leu and Saint-Maurice.