Issue No. 25

Amiens, the capital city of Picardy, is one of those places that people tend to leave off their
bucket lists despite it’s age-old history, incredible UNESCO listed Gothic Cathedral and
remarkable “Green Venice” of ancient canals which criss cross the city, an extraordinary
network of watery arteries dotted with hundreds of floating gardens…
Les Hortillonnages
Hortillonnages is not a word you’ll come
across often and possibly not outside of
Amiens. And me telling you that it means
market gardens won’t in any way convey just
how utterly amazing they are. From the
middle ages, the hortillonnages have made
Amiens famous throughout France. 65km of
ancient canals peppered with island gardens
lie in the shadow of the Cathedral right on
the edge of the city.
They go way back in time, probably to the
days of the Romans, but it was in the middle
ages that gardeners started to plant the
floating gardens and grow vegetables. It’s
said that the Cathedral itself was built on a
field once used to grow artichokes, donated
by gardeners in the 13th century to the
church.
A short walk from the city centre along the
river Somme, which flows through the
middle of Amiens, will bring you to the
hortillonnages which you can explore by
guided electric boat along a 3km stretch
(April to October). It’s incredible to find that
one moment you’re in a teeming metropolis
and the next in tranquil waters, dragon flies,
butterflies and birds flitting about, water lilies
bobbing on the water. There are still around
ten professional gardeners growing
vegetables and fruit here. They sell their
produce at the weekly market in the
medieval St Leu district, alongside the river.
Most of the gardens are worked by keen
owners, handed down through families for
generations. The hortilllonnages are an oasis
of wild nature, tamed patches full of flowers,
small boats quirky buildings and beautiful
huts.