Laon Audio Guided Walking Tour 1h40 and 15 Audio Comments

If Laon is no longer one of the great cities of France, know that it was a royal city, favorite residence of Carolingians. This gate, which opens the entrance to the city, is called the gate of Ardon.

On your right, you have access to the Archaeological Museum of Laon. Enter his garden to discover the mysterious Templar chapel. The Templars, their name alone is full of mysteries.

The old gate that you now see in front of you is the citadel gate. It was built in 1595 and overlooked the city on the one hand and the famous citadel desired by Henry IV on the other.

You spend a moment on the other side of the ramparts to follow the Yitzhak Rabin promenade. From here, you can easily imagine the foundations of Laon during antiquity, when the small Gallic fortress, perched on the highest hill, overlooked the surrounding plains.

Here you are on the small Place Aubry, with a sublime view of the imposing cathedral on the one hand and the Picardy plains on the other. Before I talk to you in detail about Our Lady of Laon, let me say a few words about the building on your right.

Here you are in front of the beautiful Notre-Dame de Laon. Commissioned by Bishop Gauthier de Mortagne, it is one of the first major Gothic buildings in France, before Notre-Dame de Paris! The present cathedral, which you have in front of you, was built between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century.

You will notice during your walk in Laon that the city is full of small touches of street art representing famous figures. Here you get to know Abelard, whom you certainly do not know, but at the same time he has been dead for nine centuries, you should not blame yourself.

I quickly draw your attention to the old porch you see on your right. This is all that remains of the old Laon City Inn. The building was built in 1736 to accommodate municipal services.

You are now in General Leclerc's place. You have in front of you the new City Inn, finally, “new”, compared to the old because otherwise, it has been there since 1831.

The building you see on your left with its two turrets facing the street dates from the 15th century. This is the Inn du Petit Saint-Vincent.

You are now facing a new witness from the medieval era of Laon, its abbey Saint Martin. And it's pretty big!

You have just passed through the gate of Soissons, which closed one of the main accesses to the west of the medieval town. It was built in the early 13th century and topped by a guardhouse in 1562.

While you go up Rue de la République to find the city center, I take the opportunity to talk to you a bit about a local specialty. Yes, one of the highlights when visiting a city is to taste the specialties of its region and discover the wonders of its land.

This small platform allows you to have a nice unobstructed view of the city and the surroundings. In the distance, the infamous Chemin des Dames emerges in the Picardy plains.

You may have noticed that the city of Laon likes to decorate and brighten its streets. If you came in summer, you might have had the chance to admire streets covered in multicolored umbrellas or silver ribbons floating in the air, or some other installation they thought about to put some color and cheerfulness in the sky may too often be gray in northern France.