Compiègne Audio guided walking tour 1h50 and 17 reviews

See the building that makes the angle in front of you. It looks like a simple 19th century building and yet it is the Imperial Theatre! So if it is not more grandiose than that, it is because of the War that France is waging against Prussia and the defeat of Sedan which ruined the kingdom and interrupted the works.

Here you are in the great park of the castle. You have in front of you a beautiful view of the facade of the castle and all around you, the beautiful French gardens. The project to design these gardens began in 1752, but was unsuccessful due to the Revolution.

This is the great Gothic church of Saint James. It is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Ways of Santiago de Compostela in France.

You arrive in front of a monument to the dead, dedicated to George Guynemer. Since chances are you don't really know George, let me introduce you.

Here is the small confidential garden of the ramparts of Compiègne. Little frequented, it allows a pleasant walk and good access to the remains of the city walls.

Here you are in front of the beautiful church of Saint Anthony. It was built at the same time as the church of Saint James, when in 1199 it was decided that Compiègne needed parishes and could no longer depend solely on the Abbey of Sainte-Corneille.

You are now in the Songeons Park set up around an 18th century bourgeois house. Today it houses the Museum of Art and Archaeology founded by patron Antoine Vivenel.

Here you are, along the Oise, which inspired 19th century painters for a long time. This river originates in Chimay in Belgium and passes 287 of its 302 km in France. It is an important axis of river transport that connects the Paris region to the North of France as well as to Belgium and the Netherlands.

The tower, the remains of which you can observe today, is called the big tower of the king, or the tower Joan of Arc. It is all that remains of the primitive Capetian castle that succeeded the Carolingian castle.

The Salles de Saint-Nicolas building, which forms the corner between rue Jeanne d’Arc and rue du Grand Ferré, is the former Inn Dieu de Compiègne. It was built in the 12th century on the foundations of an annex to the Abbey of Sainte-Corneille.

Here you are in the Herbal Point of Sale Square. While it now hosts a new shopping centre and its fashion boutiques, it remains the oldest square in the city. It dates back to 1079, and was known at the time as the King’s Court.

You arrive in front of the entrance of the cloister museum. It is housed in the Abbey of Sainte-Corneille and traces the history of this abbey, cradle of the city of Compiègne. It deserves a museum because its history is as long as it is rich and began in 877, when Emperor Charles the Bald decided to found an abbey that could rival the Aachen Palatine Chapel, which was the private chapel of Charlemagne and was the coronation site for 600 years.

The newly renovated building you see there is the old salt granary of the city. Here, in the Middle Ages, you had the banking district. See, you are on the exchange place, ready to take the rue des Lombards.

The beautiful half-timbered house so well preserved that you see there is called the old Cassine. The term Cassine, in Picard, designates a house of rustic appearance. And for good reason, it is one of the oldest houses in Compiègne.

Here you are in the square of the Town Inn surrounded by Joan of Arc waving her flag and the one that is perhaps the most beautiful building in the city, the Town Inn of Compiègne. Its construction began in the 1500s.

The small church of Saint-Pierre des Minimes is the new exhibition space in Compiègne. This ancient Romanesque church of the 12th century, classified as a historic monument, today receives temporary exhibitions.

Here you are in front of the palace of Compiègne. 100 times less visited than Versailles, it has nothing to envy him! So, who lived there, when and why, let’s take a look around.