St Quentin Attractions

The industrial town of St- Quentin (pop. 59,066) lies on the right bank of the canalized Somme. Originally the Roman settlement of Augusta Veromanduorum, it takes its present name from the third C. Christian martyr St Quintinus or Quentin. The hub of the town's traffic is the Place de l'Hôtel- de- Ville, in which is a monument (1896) commemorating a Spanish victory over the French in 1557. Around the square are a number of elegant buildings - the Town Hall (begun in 1331, with a Gothic facade of 1509; carillon), the Theater and, off to the northeast, the massive collegiate church of St- Quentin (12th-15th C.), with two high transepts and a beautiful apse decorated with reliefs.